PHOENIX (Legal Newsline) — Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich has announced a motion to intervene on behalf of the state in Maricopa County Superior Court to protect small businesses from an alleged serial litigator.
Brnovich’s office claims that the plaintiff forced its hand due to the high volume of lawsuits against small businesses in the state – more than 1,000 actions to date.
The plaintiff allegedly circumvented the legal process by claiming to look into supposed violations of the federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). According to Brnovich’s office, the plaintiff is merely engaging in “trolling” litigation tactics designed to coerce defendants into quick payments that enrich the plaintiff.
Brnovich’s office seeks to be a nominal defendant on this matter, wanting all actions filed by the plaintiff consolidated into this one action to then be dismissed. The office cites Rule 11 failings as the reason the case should be dismissed.
The state has taken no position on whether any violations exist in particular cases out of the more than one thousand actions filed by the plaintiff.