The New Jersey Supreme Court has agreed to hear an appeal concerning whether an attorney can be required to pay legal fees as consequential damages to a nonclient in a legal malpractice lawsuit that was brought over an international child abduction.
On Oct. 9, the court announced that it had granted a petition for certification in a case where family lawyer Madeline Marzano-Lesnevich and her law firm face a $992,333 judgment, upheld by an appeals court in April, that includes nearly $160,000 in legal fees on top of $700,000 for emotional distress damages.
