California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from Lim v. Shtofman, B284694 (Cal. App. 2019):
"The common law tort of abuse of process arises when one uses the court's process for a purpose other than that for which the process was designed. . . . . [] '[T]he essence of the tort [is] . . . misuse of the power of the court; it is an act done in the name of the court and under its authority for the purpose of perpetrating an injustice.' [Citation.] To succeed in an action for abuse of process, a litigant must establish that the defendant (1) contemplated an ulterior motive in using the process, and (2) committed a willful act in the use of the process not proper in the regular conduct of the proceedings. [Citation.]" (Rusheen v. Cohen (2006) 37 Cal.4th 1048, 1056-1057 (Rusheen).)
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