If my business was sued and I won, can I now go back and sue the other party for the $15,000 in legal fees I incurred defending the action?

In the United States, in almost all  cases the parties pay their own attorneys' fees, win or lose.  Although this may be unfair in many cases, and I'm sure gives you no comfort, the idea is that no "little guy" will ever dare to sue someone with deep pockets, even if they have a good claim (no claim is a slam dunk) if they know they will have to pay the big guy's legal fees if they lose.   For example, if you were to sue some chemical company for dumping hazardous waste in your backyard, you would be very cautious before you risked losing millions in attorneys fees by suing them. There are some exceptions.  Some contracts provide that, in any suit relating to the contract, the prevailing party will be able to recover its reasonable attorneys fees from the loser.  Some statutes provide that, in any suit for violation of the statute, the prevailing party can collect its legal fees from the loser.  I assume that neither of these situations applies to you. There can also be an exception where someone brings a frivolous claim.  In rare cases a court can sanction the party for its frivolous conduct by ordering it to pay all or some part of the other party's attorneys' fees.  However, the Court did not do so in your action. As a last resort, you may be able to sue for malicous prosecution.  This is a very difficult claim to prove.  Basically, you would have to prove that the other party had no basis whatsoever for its suit, had no motive to due you other than malice, and that you won.  It would be very difficult to win, and you would still  have to pay a lawyer to represent you (if it is you individually that has been damaged, as opposed to your corporation or other legal entity, like an llc, you could do it yourself) which fees you could not recover, so it almost certainly is not worth it.