Prozan

I. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Despite the substantial history to this case and the lawsuits that preceded it, the issue before us in this appeal is narrow. We include only the facts and procedural history germane to its resolution. Prozan, who is an attorney and self-represented, filed the instant lawsuit on September 24, 2019, asserting a single cause of action against attorney John Hannon and Hannon’s client, Derar Hawari, for wrongful use of civil proceedings (operative complaint). A claim for wrongful use of civil proceedings is often referred to as a claim for “malicious prosecution,” and we use the terms interchangeably herein. Prozan’s operative complaint alleged that in 2012 and 2013, he filed lawsuits on behalf of two sets of clients, seeking damages related to an allegedly fraudulent investment scheme. Hannon’s client Hawari was one of the defendants in those lawsuits.

Unspecified statutory references are to the Code of Civil Procedure. 2 On September 30, 2013, the parties to those lawsuits entered into a settlement agreement by which the defendants agreed to repay all damages in scheduled installments. Hawari made payments under the 2013 settlement agreement…