Judge-Shopping Law and Legal Definition
Judge-shopping refers to a practice of filing several lawsuits that asserts the same claim. Judge shopping is usually done in a court or a district with multiple judges. It is done with the hope of having one of the lawsuits assigned to a favorable judge. It is also done with intent to nonsuit or voluntarily dismiss the others.
A court faced with judge-shopping has the authority to act to preserve the integrity and control of its docket. Moreover, it is particularly important for a district utilizing a random selection process to jealously guard the integrity of the system from potential abuse which attempts to circumvent the process.[Vaqueria Tres Monjitas, Inc. v. Rivera-Cubano, 341 F. Supp. 2d 69 (D.P.R. 2004)]. Currently, judge-shopping is a practice that has been universally condemned.
