Pa. High Court Upholds Frivolous Litigation Statute

A divided Pennsylvania Supreme Court disappointed the state’s largest bar organizations by refusing to strike down a frivolous litigation statute that has been criticized for encouraging vindictive lawsuits against attorneys (Villani v. Seibert, 2017 BL 137290, Pa., No. 66 MAP 2016, 4/26/17).

The April 26 decision was a setback for the Pennsylvania Bar Association, which urged the justices to strike down the Dragonetti Act as a legislative encroachment on the high court’s constitutional power to regulate attorney conduct.

Voting 5-2, the justices declined that invitation.

The majority said the statute—which modified the common law tort of ...