Forum Shopping Is Not Clever. It’s a Paper Trail of Abuse

 Forum Shopping Is Not Clever. It’s a Paper Trail of Abuse

One of the most common tactics abusers use once they lose control is forum shopping. It feels strategic. It feels intimidating. It is meant to drain your time, money, energy, and stability. But over time, it almost always backfires.

Forum shopping is the deliberate act of filing legal actions in jurisdictions that are inconvenient, unfamiliar, or weakly connected to the facts of the case. The goal is not justice. The goal is exhaustion. Narcissistic abusers use this tactic because they believe access to the legal system gives them unlimited power and that you will collapse under the weight of repeated filings.

They file where you no longer live. They file where you cannot easily travel. They file emergency motions timed to weekends, holidays, or moments when they know you are unrepresented. They open parallel cases in multiple courts. Each filing forces you to respond, appear, spend money, and relive the trauma. That is the punishment.

What they do not understand is that courts are not blind to this behavior. Judges are trained to look at jurisdiction and venue. They understand when a filing makes no practical sense. One questionable choice of forum might be excused. A pattern cannot be.

Forum shopping creates an evidentiary footprint. Every case number, filing date, dismissal, transfer, and jurisdictional defect becomes part of a record. When the same party repeatedly files in improper or inconvenient venues, it signals bad faith. It shows intent to harass rather than intent to resolve a dispute.

This tactic often escalates after losses. When an abuser fails in one court, they move to another. When allegations are dismissed, they recycle them elsewhere. They assume the new court will not see the old record. They assume you will not survive the process long enough to connect the dots. This assumption is where they miscalculate.

Once the pattern is presented clearly, forum shopping supports serious consequences. Cases can be dismissed for lack of jurisdiction or improper venue. Courts can consolidate actions or transfer them back to the appropriate forum. Judges can issue findings of bad faith. Repeated misuse can support vexatious litigant designations, sanctions, and filing restrictions. Attorney fees may be awarded. In extreme cases, forum shopping becomes part of broader claims for abuse of process or malicious prosecution once proceedings terminate in your favor.

For survivors, the instruction is not to chase the abuser from court to court emotionally. It is to document methodically. Track where each filing occurred. Note where the parties live. Note where the alleged events occurred. Preserve service dates and hearing timelines. The story tells itself when laid out chronologically.

Forum shopping also undermines the abuser’s credibility. Courts expect consistency. When the same person claims emergency danger in one state and then abandons the case to file elsewhere, it raises questions. When filings contradict residency claims, employment records, or prior sworn statements, it weakens their position. The very chaos they create becomes proof.

The purpose of forum shopping is to drain you. The consequence of forum shopping is exposure. It transforms the legal system from a weapon into a mirror. Over time, the abuser is no longer seen as a litigant seeking protection. They are seen as someone misusing the courts to maintain control.

This is why patience matters. Truth does not need speed. It needs documentation. When courts finally see the pattern, forum shopping stops working. And when it stops working, it often becomes the reason the abuser loses everything they thought the system would give them.