Opinion ID: 2582746
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Tort of Abuse of Process.

Text: 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. (5 Witkin, Summary of Cal. Law (9th ed. 1988) Torts, § 459, p. 547; see also Kappel v. Bartlett (1988) 200 Cal.App.3d 1457, 1463, 246 Cal.Rptr. 815.) It has been interpreted broadly to encompass the entire range of `procedures' incident to litigation. ( Barquis v. Merchants Collection Assn. (1972) 7 Cal.3d 94, 104, 101 Cal.Rptr. 745, 496 P.2d 817, fn. 4 ( Barquis ).) [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. ( Meadows v. Bakersfield S. & L. Assn. (1967) 250 Cal. App.2d 749, 753, 59 Cal.Rptr. 34.) 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. ( Oren Royal Oaks Venture v. Greenberg, Bernhard, Weiss & Karma, Inc. (1986) 42 Cal.3d 1157, 1168, 232 Cal.Rptr. 567, 728 P.2d 1202 ( Oren Royal Oaks Venture). )