I thought that, in the U.S. at least, the use of a legal threat itself as extortion (as opposed the merits of a posited case, itself) was a serious "gray area" if not outright illegal in itself.<p>"We will take you to court to ruin you." (That being the primary objective, rather than the winning of whatever case is filed.) I imagine the UK has its own views on this, but wouldn't such an approach -- blatantly expressed -- receive serious scrutiny from any competent U.S. judge?