My soon to be ex-wife unjustly accused me of domestic violence, and then dropped the case. How do I go about recovering my legal fees from her for what I believe is blackmail? My counsel informed me that she stated I was on my "best behavior", which resulted in her dropping the case.
Your counselor is correct, but you should be able to recover your attorney fees for both actions (her domestic violence action against you and your defamation action against her). You will either need to learn how to file an action for defamation or you will have to hire a slander/libel attorney. When you do file, you will request damages in the amount of your legal fees paid for her domestic violence action against you and for your legal fees for having to bring a defamation action. If you succeed on your defamation action she will have to pay for your attorney fees for both actions since your defamation action was necessary in order to make you whole.