Mizuno v. Barak

*826In 1994, a nonparty bank commenced a mortgage foreclosure action against the plaintiff. The plaintiff thereafter filed several bankruptcy petitions, which were ultimately unsuccessful in avoiding the foreclosure sale of the plaintiffs real property in 2002. The plaintiff then commenced a legal malpractice action against the attorney who represented him in the third bankruptcy proceeding. The plaintiff prevailed in that action, and was awarded the relief he sought in the complaint, that is, recovery of the value of the lost equity in the real property as well as the legal fees he spent on his…