NJP Advocate Caroline Gillis represented Destiny1, a domestic violence survivor, through five different court cases. At one point, Caroline ensured that Destiny’s infant son was included in her Domestic Violence Protection Order (DVPO) after the court improperly excluded him.
Destiny’s ex-partner was a serial abuser. He called her every hour of the night, using at least 20 different phone numbers. He misused court proceedings to control and harass her. He filed false reports with Child Protective Services accusing her of being an “unsafe mother”—reports that could have jeopardized her custody of her son.
This type of behavior is known as abusive litigation. It often causes psychological, emotional and financial harm as abusers repeatedly drag their victims into legal battles. It is a way for the abuser to continue to exert power and maintain contact with a person even after a relationship ends—and it is illegal under Washington state law.
In this case, the perpetrator’s abusive litigation went on for six months. NJP defended against several frivolous family law and protection order cases filed by the ex-partner while the DVPO proceedings were ongoing. Ultimately, NJP went to court twice to obtain an Order Against Abusive Litigation. It was finally granted in February 2024, restricting the abuser for six years from filing new lawsuits or legal motions without first getting the court’s permission.
Learn more about an Order of Abusive Litigation on WashingtonLawHelp.org, NJP’s platform of self-help legal resources.
- Name changed to protect privacy. ↩︎