The Dragonetti Act

Many jurisdictions have laws allowing a party that has prevailed after being wrongfully sued to sue back. In Pennsylvania the statutes that allow that are called the Dragonetti Act. (Additional relief is available through the common law and through the Rules of Civil Procedure. Those options will be discussed in future Blog entries.) Under the Dragonetti Act, you can sue someone for suing you if: (1) you have prevailed in the matter where they sued you (2) the party suing you acted in way that was grossly negligent or without probable cause; and (3) the offending action was primarily for a purpose other than the proper pursuit of a legal claim. Hopefully you’re not the victim of litigation that would give rise to a claim under this Act. However, if you are, you can recover a wide range of damages, including: (1) any harm resulting from a limitation of your use of your property or things; (2) any harm to your reputation; (3) any expenses, including reasonable attorney fees, incurred in defending against the wrongful litigation; (4) emotional distress; and (5) punitive damages where appropriate.

The Dragonetti Act made it onto this Blog because it offers the prospect of recovering attorney fees. Still, recovering attorney fees may not, in and of itself, warrant pursuing such an action. That is because, although you can recover your attorney fees on the underlying wrongful action, you cannot recover them for the Dragonetti action itself. If you were just going for attorney fees, you would have to be very confident that the expense of pursuing the Dragonetti action did not exceed the expense of the underlying litigation.

That said, circumstances that give rise to a Dragonetti action likely also give rise to one or more of the other claims for damages provided for by the Act. Although the finder of fact (the judge or jury) would have to specifically determine that it was warranted in any particular case, given the kind of wrongdoing inherent in a Dragonetti Act violation, punitive damages are often likely.

The victim’s financial ability to pursue a Dragonetti case could be an obstacle, especially if the underlying case was a serious drain on resources. However, if the case is strong, with significant damages, counsel may be available on a contingency or blended rate (smaller percent contingent fee plus significantly reduced hourly fee) basis.

The information contained in this blog is not legal advice and should not be relied on as such. For legal advice or for answers to specific questions, please contact the blog's author.