Can we sue a plaintiff and their attorneys in small claims court to recoup legal fees for being named in a frivolous lawsuit with?
Get Legal Help Today
Compare Quotes From Top Companies and Save
Secured with SHA-256 Encryption
Can we sue a plaintiff and their attorneys in small claims court to recoup legal fees for being named in a frivolous lawsuit with?
We were named in a lawsuit that had nothing to do with us along with $300 others and paid $2400 to our attorney to get removed from suit to attorney can we sue plaintiff and their attorney in small claims court to get our costs back? They were obviously naming as many companies and individuals as they could to see what would stick; we were named in a frivolous manner as evidenced by being dropped.
Asked on January 19, 2012 under Business Law, California
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
You could try to sue to recover your legal fees, but it's very unlikely you would prevail. If there was any reason at all to name you in the suit (i.e. any reason to think that you might have been liable), then naming in the suit was not frivlous and the plaintiff was justified in naming you--the fact that you were dismissed from the case does not by itself mean that it was frivolous to initially name you. American law makes it *very* difficult to recover legal fees.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Answer(s) provided above are for general information only. The attorney providing the answer was not serving as the attorney for the person submitting the question or in any attorney-client relationship with such person. Laws may vary from state to state, and sometimes change. Tiny variations in the facts, or a fact not set forth in a question, often can change a legal outcome or an attorney's conclusion. Although AttorneyPages.com has verified the attorney was admitted to practice law in at least one jurisdiction, he or she may not be authorized to practice law in the jurisdiction referred to in the question, nor is he or she necessarily experienced in the area of the law involved. Unlike the information in the Answer(s) above, upon which you should NOT rely, for personal advice you can rely upon we suggest you retain an attorney to represent you.