Terms Used In Vermont Statutes > Title 15 > Chapter 21 > Subchapter 5 - Abusive Litigation

• Abuse: means the occurrence of one or more of the following acts between family or household members:

• Abusive litigation: means litigation where the criteria set forth below in each of subdivisions (A)-(D) are found to have been established:

• Allegation: something that someone says happened.
• Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
• Assisted reproduction: means a method of causing pregnancy other than sexual intercourse and includes:

• Birth: includes stillbirth. See
• Child: means a person of any age whose parentage may be determined under this title. See
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
• Deposition: An oral statement made before an officer authorized by law to administer oaths. Such statements are often taken to examine potential witnesses, to obtain discovery, or to be used later in trial.
• Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
• Domestic: when applied to a corporation, company, association, or copartnership shall mean organized under the laws of this State; "foreign" when so applied, shall mean organized under the laws of another state, government, or country. See
• Donor: The person who makes a gift.
• Donor: means a person who contributes a gamete or gametes or an embryo or embryos to another person for assisted reproduction or gestation, whether or not for consideration. See
• Embryo: means a cell or group of cells containing a diploid complement of chromosomes or a group of such cells, not including a gamete, that has the potential to develop into a live born human being if transferred into the body of a person under conditions in which gestation may be reasonably expected to occur. See
• Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
• Fees: shall mean earnings due for official services, aside from salaries or per diem compensation. See
• following: when used by way of reference to a section of the law shall mean the next preceding or following section. See
• Gamete: means a sperm, an egg, or any part of a sperm or egg. See
• Intended parent: means a person, whether married or unmarried, who manifests the intent to be legally bound as a parent of a child resulting from assisted reproduction or a gestational carrier agreement. See
• Interrogatories: Written questions asked by one party of an opposing party, who must answer them in writing under oath; a discovery device in a lawsuit.
• Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
• Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
• Litigation: means any kind of legal action or proceeding, including:

• Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
• Parent: means a person who has established parentage that meets the requirements of this title. See
• Parentage: means the legal relationship between a child and a parent as established under this title. See
• Perpetrator of abusive litigation: means a person who files, initiates, advances, or continues litigation in violation of an order restricting abusive litigation. See
• Person: shall include any natural person, corporation, municipality, the State of Vermont or any department, agency, or subdivision of the State, and any partnership, unincorporated association, or other legal entity. See
• Pleadings: Written statements of the parties in a civil case of their positions. In the federal courts, the principal pleadings are the complaint and the answer.
• Presumed parent: means a person who is recognized as the parent of a child under section 401 of this title. See
• Probable cause: A reasonable ground for belief that the offender violated a specific law.
• protection order: means any injunction or other order issued for the purpose of preventing violent or threatening acts or harassment against, or contact or communication with or physical proximity to, another person, including temporary and final orders issued by civil and criminal courts, other than support or child custody orders, whether obtained by filing an independent action or as a pendente lite order in another proceeding so long as any civil order was issued in response to a complaint, petition or motion filed by or on behalf of a person seeking protection. See
• Sexual assault: shall include sexual assault as provided in 13 V. See
• Sexual exploitation: shall include sexual exploitation of an inmate as provided in 13 V. See
• Spouse: includes a partner in a civil union or a partner in a legal relationship that provides substantially the same rights, benefits, and responsibilities as marriage and is recognized as valid in the state or jurisdiction in which it was entered. See
• State: when applied to the different parts of the United States may apply to the District of Columbia and any territory and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. See
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• Subpoena duces tecum: A command to a witness to produce documents.
• Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.