Suing after civil suit gets thrown out?

I'm currently being sued in civil court for bodily harm, which I did not inflict. There is no evidence and there are several parties who admit to being involved, and agree that I was not involved whatsoever. Due to two of the defendants living out of state, they are not being held accountable and do t have to answer to subpoenas or anything for that matter. The other party, (not included on the lawsuit for some reason) live in state, and has also admitted to taking part in this. I am basically the only person that is being sued for this even though there are others that admit involvement. Looks like this is going to be thrown out due to lack of evidence, and all depositions ending in my favor. The question I have, is how can I sue the plaintiff after this is over. This has been going on for 2 years, Cost me thousands, time away from work, and I've had to start taking anti depressants because it's messed my head up so badly. Not to mention I've lost a few friends over it. I would ask my lawyer, but he is a friend of a friend who usually doesn't even take this sort of case and is already cutting me a deal so I don't want to put this on him.

Whether you can successfully be awarded compensation for a frivolous lawsuit or abuse of process depends on a variety of factors that there is probably not enough time or space to discuss here.

Not the least of which is what you mean by "thrown out" and why it gets "thrown out." "Thrown out" is not necessarily a decision in your favor. It may just be no decision at all.

Rather than go into the myriad of details here I suggest that you read the following decision of the Michigan Court of Appeals that addressed the issue. It will give you an idea of what you have to establish in order to successfully sue for compensation.

http://www.michbar.org/file/opinions/appeals/2011/042111/48645.pdf

Once you have finished reading, consult an attorney and review your options.

Cody nikkila said:

Due to two of the defendants living out of state, they are not being held accountable and do t have to answer to subpoenas or anything for that matter.

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Just because they live out of state doesn't necessarily mean they can't be sued. And, a party to a lawsuit in State X certainly can obtain discovery from a person in State Y.

Cody nikkila said:

how can I sue the plaintiff after this is over.

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The same way the plaintiff sued you. However, it is unlikely that you would have a viable basis to sue the plaintiff solely because the plaintiff sued you and you won. The opinion that "adjusterjack" linked to is one option but not the only option. However,all options require that you prove that the plaintiff's was objectively without merit and that the lack of merit was known to the plaintiff. That your case has taken two years to get to the end strongly suggests it had at least some superficial merit.

Cody nikkila said:

The question I have, is how can I sue the plaintiff after this is over. This has been going on for 2 years, Cost me thousands, time away from work, and I've had to start taking anti depressants because it's messed my head up so badly.

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In general your costs in defending the claim, money lost from time off worth to deal with the lawsuit, and your depression over it are not things for which the court may compensate you. Even if they were, generally you'd raise those things in your present lawsuit, not in a new one. The exception is suing for abuse of process. The standard for that Michigan is the following:


See Oliver v. Penczak. These are difficult cases to win.

I don't see the case that Jack posted as really addressing the issue you raised. He may have meant to link the one I did.