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Attorney's Fees Fee-Shifting

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

“Prevailing Party” Attorneys’ Fee Provisions

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Contracts with “prevailing party” provisions offer the tantalizing, coveted prospect of the winner recovering attorneys’ fees from the loser in legal disputes over the contract’s enforcement....more

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

Two Cases. Two Mammoth Fee Awards. Coup de Grâce or Pyrrhic Victory?

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on

Under a common-law doctrine successful litigants love to hate – the “American Rule” – a party to litigation cannot recover its legal fees unless a contract, statute, or court rule expressly authorizes fee-shifting to the...more

Lathrop GPM

Connecticut Federal Court Awards Prevailing Sales Representative Less than Half of Requested Attorneys’ Fees

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A federal court in Connecticut reduced attorneys’ fees and costs sought by a sales representative after the court raised concerns about several issues with the sales representative’s trial strategy. Trade Links, LLC v. Bi-Qem...more

Littler

Court Holds Backup Withholding Required by Law Does Not Violate a Settlement Agreement

Littler on

In Escano v. Innovative Financial Partners, LLC, a magistrate judge held that the defendants’ decision to withhold funds from a payment required under a settlement agreement when the plaintiff refused to provide a Form W-9...more

McDermott Will & Emery

Still Exceptional: Fee-Shift Appropriate in View of Noninfringement Stipulation

McDermott Will & Emery on

In a split decision, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed a district court’s award of more than $5 million in attorneys’ fees, finding that the district court did not abuse its discretion in finding the...more

Pierce Atwood LLP

There’s No Tying in Litigation - Factors to Determine the Winner for Fee Shifting Provisions

Pierce Atwood LLP on

Deciding whether to include a prevailing party attorneys’ fee provision in a contract is important, as doing so has significant risk and cost implications of litigation. Prevailing party provisions foster dispute...more

Nutter McClennen & Fish LLP

Massachusetts Judge Orders Plaintiff to Pay Attorneys’ Fees Because Plaintiff Had No Evidentiary Basis to Believe Facts Alleged in...

Judge Krupp, sitting in the Massachusetts Business Litigation Session, awarded a defendant more than $240,000 in attorneys’ fees, expenses, and interest under G.L. c. 231, § 6F, the Massachusetts statute authorizing fee...more

Proskauer - Minding Your Business

Factors in Fee-Shifting for Prevailing Defendants

Statutes permitting discretionary attorney fee-shifting for prevailing defendants vary in the circumstances under which fee-shifting is permitted. Two recent cases tackling the question of why and when a lawsuit warrants...more

McDermott Will & Emery

Change in Law Leading to Case Dismissal Doesn’t Preclude Attorneys’ Fees

McDermott Will & Emery on

Addressing the symmetrical fee-shifting provision of the Copyright Act and whether a prevailing defendant was entitled to fees even when the plaintiff moved to dismiss the case in response to a change in law, the US Court of...more

Troutman Pepper

PA Appellate Court Issues Strong Reminder: CASPA’s Fee-Shifting Mechanism Applies to Subcontractors, Contractors, and Owners Who...

Troutman Pepper on

SDSP, LLC v. Attias, 2023 Pa. Super. Unpub. LEXIS 1518 - The Superior Court of Pennsylvania vacated a multimillion-dollar award to subcontractors arising from a payment dispute, and remanded the matter to the trial court...more

Lowndes

Florida Senate Bill No. 540 Brings Changes to Comprehensive Plan Challenges and Cost Recovery for Developers

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On May 24, 2023, Governor DeSantis approved Florida Senate Bill No. 540. The bill, which will go into effect on July 1, 2023, provides that the prevailing party in a challenge to a comprehensive plan amendment is entitled to...more

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

The American Rule Doesn’t Stand: Contractor Uses Offer of Judgment to Recover Attorneys’ Fees in Retention Dispute

Last week we saw the Menard court reject the use of an indemnity clause to shift fees in a dispute between contracting parties. This week, a very recent decision from Nevada highlights another creative way to shift fees where...more

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

The American Rule Stands: Court Rejects Fee-Shifting Under Indemnity Clause

The “American Rule” on attorneys’ fees is that each party pays its own lawyers, even if you win. As with almost any rule, there are exceptions. Sometimes there is a statute that requires the losing party to pay the prevailing...more

Fox Rothschild LLP

Attorneys’ Fees Can Be Won By Plaintiffs Even If Some Claims Are Defeated Or Withdrawn: What’s Going On?

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I have defended numerous FLSA class actions and a big reason that these cases settle is due to the fee-shifting nature of the statutes involved. A defendant employer not only has to pay his lawyer’s fees but it also faces...more

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

Fifteen Percent Means Fifteen Percent: Fourth Circuit Sides with Lender on Interpretation of Important Fee-Shifting Statute in...

In a recent decision, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit upheld a lender’s statutory and contractual right to recover attorneys’ fees equal to 15% of the outstanding balance of a loan from a defaulting...more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

California Court Confirms Surety’s Right to Recover Attorney Fees and Costs Incurred by Its Principal

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In Cell-Crete Corp. v. Fed. Ins. Co., a California court awarded a surety attorneys’ fees and costs that its principal incurred defending the surety against a claim on a public-works payment bond. This is good news for...more

Saiber LLC

The Saiber Construction Law Column: July/August 2022

Saiber LLC on

The June 2022 edition of OnSite Magazine discussed the case of J&M Interiors v. Centerton Square Owners, which addressed a subcontractor’s right to be paid under New Jersey’s Prompt Payment Act (“PPA”). Several months after...more

Hudson Cook, LLP

It Takes Two to Tango: Steps a Finance Company Can Take to Protect Its Toes from a Dealership Partner with Two Left Feet

Hudson Cook, LLP on

Finding a good dance partner can be difficult. If all goes well, your and your partner's steps and turns are in sync, and you both are happy with the resulting dance. But occasionally, your dance partner may make a misstep...more

Nossaman LLP

Recovery of Attorneys’ Fees Not Permissible for Lawyer/Spouse Plaintiffs Under Uniform Relocation Act

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A recent Federal Circuit case, Haggart v. United States, No. 21-1660 (June 22, 2022) determined that under the Uniform Relocation Act, like other fee-shifting statutes, attorneys’ fees are not recoverable if the lawyer is one...more

Burns & Levinson LLP

Will Your Right to Indemnification Get You Your Attorneys’ Fees?

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Under the so-called “American Rule,” a party that prevails in litigation typically is not entitled to recover the costs, expenses and legal fees it has to expend to secure a judgment in its favor. As such, many business...more

Greenbaum, Rowe, Smith & Davis LLP

Construction Litigation Update: NJ Appellate Division Requires Attorney-Fee Shifting in Enforcing the New Jersey Prompt Payment...

What You Need to Know- The New Jersey Prompt Payment Act provides a remedy to contractors and lower-tier subcontractors when their payments are approved and certified, but not remitted....more

Miller Nash LLP

Bank Liable for Attorneys’ Fees for “Prelitigation Bad Faith” Says Washington Court of Appeals

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In a recent decision, the Washington Court of Appeals established a new equitable exception to the American rule for attorneys’ fees, which generally denies an award of fees and costs to a prevailing party absent a...more

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

The Answer is Almost Always No

Farrell Fritz, P.C. on

Following up on the question posed in a post from a few years ago: when clients ask whether they can “sue for legal fees,” the courts continue to reiterate that the answer is almost always no; that the American Rule still...more

Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP

Beware Fee Shifting Contract Clauses

Are they a good idea? Lawyers drafting or reviewing contracts should carefully consider whether a fee shifting clause serves the parties’ interests. Sometimes, perhaps often, they do not. Bonnie and Gus agreed that...more

Bilzin Sumberg

Florida State Courts Limit Parties’ Abilities to Recover Attorneys’ Fees

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In a pair of recent decisions, Florida state courts reined in multiple statutes that allow for the recovery of attorneys’ fees. In one decision, the Florida Supreme Court adopted a relatively narrow reading of Florida’s...more

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