Upon discovering you are a target of an abusive lawsuit, the first and most critical action is to immediately engage litigation counsel specializing in procedural defense—without responding directly to the opponent—to conduct an urgent assessment of the complaint and initiate a strategic hold on all relevant documents and communications.** This initial step is foundational: your attorney will first scrutinize the petition for deficiencies to prepare a pre-answer motion to dismiss or strike, while simultaneously ensuring all data (including emails and internal memos) is preserved to defend against spoliation claims and to capture evidence of the plaintiff's improper motive. Concurrently, counsel will begin drafting a demand for the plaintiff to voluntarily withdraw the suit under threat of sanctions, creating an early record of your reasonableness and their bad faith, thus positioning the case for a swift, cost-effective dismissal while building the framework for recovering attorneys' fees.
