165761

Summary

The Court held that a legal-malpractice plaintiff may recover reasonable and necessary attorney fees incurred to correct or mitigate harm caused by the malpractice. Those fees are direct malpractice damages and are not barred by the American rule, although fees incurred to prosecute the malpractice action itself remain unrecoverable. Because the plaintiff adequately pleaded that defendants' negligence caused additional fees in defending litigation that would have been avoided through competent representation, the Court reversed and remanded.