Legal Definitions - frivolous appeal

A frivolous appeal is a request made to a higher court to review a lower court's decision, where the request clearly lacks any reasonable legal basis or arguable merit. Such an appeal is often filed for improper purposes, such as to delay the enforcement of a judgment, harass an opposing party, or simply to re-litigate issues that have already been definitively decided without presenting any new legal arguments or evidence. Courts view frivolous appeals seriously because they waste judicial resources and can impose unnecessary costs on the other party.

Here are some examples to illustrate the concept of a frivolous appeal:

• Example 1: Appeal for Delay

  A construction company loses a lawsuit where it was clearly proven to have breached a contract and owes a significant sum to a client. The trial court issues a judgment ordering the company to pay. Despite overwhelming evidence against them and no legitimate legal errors in the trial, the company's owner instructs their lawyer to file an appeal. Their true intention is not to win the appeal, but to delay the enforcement of the judgment for several months, hoping to buy time to reorganize finances or negotiate a lower settlement, even though they have no valid legal grounds to challenge the original decision.

  This illustrates a frivolous appeal because the company's appeal lacks any genuine legal merit and is filed solely to abuse the court system for delay, rather than to correct a perceived legal error.

• Example 2: Appeal Based on Baseless Legal Theory

  A person sues a local government, claiming that the city's new zoning laws caused their pet parrot to stop talking, demanding compensation for emotional distress. The trial court dismisses the case because it presents no recognized legal claim under existing law, and there is no scientific or legal basis to link zoning laws to a parrot's speech. Undeterred, the person appeals the dismissal, continuing to argue the same unsupported theory without citing any relevant statutes, precedents, or evidence that would give their claim a chance of success.

  This is a frivolous appeal because the appellant is pursuing a legal theory that has no basis in established law and has already been rejected by the lower court, demonstrating a clear lack of arguable legal merit.