As if an abusive marriage, relationship, or business partnership wasn’t bad enough, the narcissist has to escalate the matter by threatening legal action. The legal system becomes an unaware and unwilling extension of the narcissistic arm that reaches out to do as much damage as possible.
Their “take no prisoners” attitude will stop at nothing to retaliate for causing pain over some perceived embarrassment. Here are 8 ways a narcissist uses the legal system to bully his or her opponent.
1. Filing frivolous lawsuits
Filing lawsuits that are meaningless and useless to the point of forcing the opposing party to hire a lawyer and incur unnecessary expenses. These lawsuits are often dropped, but not until the opposing party takes the narcissist’s threats seriously and perhaps gives in to a demand.
2. They incorrectly present their problems to you
Narcissists often beat their opponents to court by falsely presenting their cases to the opponent. This false accusation forces the opponent to be on the defensive and causes resentment in the court system when the opponent makes a similar accusation against the narcissist.
3. Incite you to act irrationally
Narcissists will incite and encourage their victims to act irrationally and then call the police. Although this is not technically a trap because it is not a law enforcement officer performing the act, the victim will nonetheless feel trapped. This event is then later used as a threat in another lawsuit or civil suit.
4. Gaming the system
This is using laws designed to protect a person as a point of manipulation against them. For example, not allowing the child to see or talk to the other parent on “his or her time” because that would give the other parent more time than themselves. Child custody laws exist in the best interest of the child, and if the child is absent from the other parent, they must be allowed to talk to them.
5. Submission of meaningless motions/hearings
To delay the process, the narcissist will introduce meaningless movements, excessive listening, and multiple postponements. This is done again to drain the opponent’s financial resources and create an atmosphere of never-ending litigation. For a narcissist, all attention is good, so delaying things any longer only benefits his or her ego.
6. False testimony
Narcissists will lie about immaterial matters that are not important to the cause just to anger their opponent. Technically this is not considered perjury unless the lie is relevant to the outcome. This minor lie in the face of other statements distorts their entire testimony to the opponent and the narcissist aims to thwart the process.
7. Use of loopholes
Narcissists love to find loopholes in the law and exploit it to their advantage. However, if their opponent was using a loophole against them, the attacks would be harsh. For narcissists, this is a one-way street where they can only avoid the problem.
8. Jury tampering
Bribing or intimidating jury members into deciding a certain way. While this is the stuff movies are usually made of, it still happens in a courtroom. Narcissists often believe that they are above the law and will not be caught.
