§ 391.Definitions

Section 391 supplies the vocabulary for the whole vexatious litigant statute. “Litigation” means any civil action or proceeding pending in a state or federal court. “Plaintiff” and “defendant” carry their ordinary meaning but explicitly include a self-represented attorney and any kind of entity, including corporations, associations, partnerships, firms, and government bodies. “Security” is an undertaking that assures payment of the defendant's reasonable litigation expenses, including attorney's fees, not limited to costs that would ordinarily be taxable.

The heart of the section is subdivision (b)'s five-part definition of “vexatious litigant.” A person qualifies by: (1) commencing, prosecuting, or maintaining at least five litigations in propria persona in the preceding seven years that were finally determined against them or left pending at least two years without trial or hearing; (2) repeatedly relitigating, in propria persona, a matter already finally determined against them; (3) repeatedly filing unmeritorious motions or papers, conducting unnecessary discovery, or otherwise using frivolous or delay-only tactics while self-represented in a litigation; (4) having already been declared a vexatious litigant by any state or federal court in a matter based on the same or substantially similar facts; or (5) pursuing meritless litigation against a person protected by a domestic violence restraining order, while that order is in effect, that harasses or intimidates the protected person.

Every other section in this title depends on these definitions. A defendant moving under § 391.1, a court entering a prefiling order under § 391.7, or a litigant seeking to vacate one under § 391.8 all measure the case against the categories this section sets out.