No duty of care in negligence is owed by one litigant (or potential litigant) to another in respect of the commencement or conduct of civil litigation, including threats to sue. Such a duty would be inconsistent with the torts of malicious prosecution and abuse of process, the right of access to courts, and the longstanding immunity of litigants in respect of steps taken in litigation. Novel duties of care may be summarily dismissed where the posited duty cuts across or subverts established legal principles, even without factual findings. In defamation, a court should not dismiss a claim for failure to give particulars of identification where the point was not raised by the defendant and is readily remedied.
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