A lawyer who repeatedly files cases in courts that clearly lack territorial jurisdiction risks violating several core ethical rules, primarily Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and its state equivalents, which mandate a reasonable pre-filing inquiry into the legal and factual basis for jurisdiction and impose sanctions for frivolous claims, as well as the American Bar Association Model Rules of Professional Conduct, specifically Rule 3.1 by advancing frivolous claims, Rule 4.4(a) for burdening opponents with needless litigation, and potentially Rule 8.4(c) involving dishonesty, fraud, or misrepresentation if they knowingly misstate facts to manufacture jurisdiction, all of which could lead to court-imposed sanctions, malpractice liability, and disciplinary action from the state bar for neglecting their duty of competence and diligence.
