Wrongful use of civil proceedings #fyp #law #lawyersoftiktok... #Shorts #tommythelawyer

Added: 2026-06-03

[00:00:00]If someone sues you or sues your company and it was for a wrong purpose, there are some states where you can win your case and then sue that person back who sued you wrongfully. So, Pennsylvania is one of those states. They have what's called the Dragonetti Act. And basically what the Dragonetti Act says is it's a law in Pennsylvania and it says that if you are sued, right, and then you win the case, I'm paraphrasing, but you win the case. It's It's in your favor. You defend it and win it. You can file a lawsuit against the person who was responsible for suing you and recover various damages including for reputational harm, emotional distress, attorney's fees to name a few if you can prove two things. Two things. Number one, that the person responsible for bringing the action against you, legal action against you, did so in a grossly negligent manner or without probable cause. And number two, that the case that they brought against you originally was it ended in your favor. In other words, was dismissed, thrown out of court.

[00:01:08]And so, the second thing is more clear-cut and easier to prove, which is that you won your case cuz that's black and white. A court dismisses it with prejudice. But the first prong is where most of the Dragonetti cases are litigated in determining whether there was grossly negligent conduct in the filing of the action or was brought without probable cause. And another issue that comes up in Dragonetti cases is who was the one responsible for filing the lawsuit? Was it the the party to the lawsuit, i.e. the plaintiff who sued, or was it their lawyer, right? And that can create what's called a conflict of interest between the lawyer who filed the the allegedly wrongful lawsuit and the person they filed it on behalf of because as you as I'm sure you can imagine, the the lawyer who filed it might say, "Look, I relied on my client's desires in filing this lawsuit. It ain't my fault." And in in you know, the flip side of that coin is that the client, i.e. the plaintiff, the party to the lawsuit can say, "You know, I sought the legal advice of this lawyer and it was their decision to to to actually file these claims." So, these are the sorts of issues that come up in these Dragonetti cases.