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Attorney's Fees American Rule

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

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

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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

Esquire Deposition Solutions, LLC

Lawyer Who Insisted Deposition Be Conducted In-Person Hit With Opposing Attorney’s Fees

At a time when remote depositions are commonplace, litigators weigh any number of factors when deciding whether a deposition should be conducted in-person or remotely. Does the case turn on the credibility of the witness, and...more

Cozen O'Connor

A Third Party in New Jersey May be Unable to Avoid Fee Awards Under an Exception to the American Rule

Cozen O'Connor on

As a cautionary tale, in Accounteks.Net, Inc. v. CKR Law, LLP, and Christian Montes, the New Jersey Appellate Court ruled on May 9, 2023, that, under an exception to the American Rule, a third party can be liable for...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

Morris James LLP

Court of Chancery Awards Plaintiffs Attorneys’ Fees and Costs in Section 225 Action for Obtaining a Substantial Benefit for the...

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Totta v. CCSB, LLC, C.A. No. 2021-0173-KSJM (Del. Ch. Nov. 3, 2022) - Delaware follows the “American Rule”: each party bears its own legal fees and expenses. However, there are certain exceptions. This includes the...more

Butler Weihmuller Katz Craig LLP

In South Carolina, Insurers Owe Fees for Losing a First Party DJ? – It’s Un-American!

Bottom Line, Up-Front - A recent South Carolina federal district court ruling interprets South Carolina law in a new and potentially dangerous way – by allowing for an award of attorney’s fees against a property insurer...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

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

McDermott Will & Emery

Update: Absent Explicit Statutory Language? The American Rule Still Applies

McDermott Will & Emery on

The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit updated its earlier opinion to remove language ascribing motive to a prolific inventor’s actions before the US Patent & Trademark Office (PTO). Hyatt v. Hirshfeld, Case Nos....more

JAMS

Recovering Attorney Fees in Arbitration

JAMS on

An accurate assessment of damages is critical for case evaluation, and the cost of dispute resolution plays an important role in deciding to pursue claims. Even strong liability cases can fail to make economic sense. That is...more

McDermott Will & Emery

Absent Explicit Statutory Language? The American Rule Still Applies

The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit vacated a district court’s award of attorney’s fees under the prevailing party rule but affirmed the district court’s denial of the US Patent & Trademark Office’s (PTO) request...more

Freeman Law

Recovery of Attorney Fees under “Chapter 38” in Texas

Freeman Law on

Under the “American rule,” litigants on each side generally pay their separate legal fees associated with a lawsuit.  This is generally so even if one party prevails on the merits of his or her claim or claims.  Texas follows...more

Lasher Holzapfel Sperry & Ebberson PLLC

Who Pays For Attorneys Fees In Litigation?

One of the first questions asked of me by clients when considering litigation is, “Can I make the other side pay for my attorney’s fees?” In Washington State, the answer to that question is generally no. This is referred to...more

Freeman Law

Bankruptcy in the Northern District of Texas and Attorneys’ Fees

Freeman Law on

In re Shayne Allan Steen and Tracie Melissa Cole, Case No. 20-50042 (Bankr. N.D. Tex, July 7, 2021) deals with a debtor’s attorneys’ fees incurred in defending the debtor in a non-dischargeability adversary proceeding filed...more

Sands Anderson PC

Breach of a Covenant Not to Sue to Entail Liability for Attorney’s Fees

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The decision for prospective litigants to bring and defend lawsuits can be difficult to navigate given the uncertainty of costs, especially attorney’s fees. Contrary to popular assumption, in Virginia, the general rule for...more

Rosenberg Martin Greenberg LLP

Wheeling v. Selene Finance, LP: The Safe Harbor for Landlords Conducting Self-Help Evictions In Maryland Is Not So Safe After All

In an April 30, 2021 opinion, Maryland highest court, the Court of Appeals, largely reversed a decision of the Court of Special Appeals. The Court of Appeals held that: (a) posting a notice under Section 7-113 of Maryland’s...more

Holland & Knight LLP

Landlords Beware: Bankruptcy Court Litigation Could Come at a Cost

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Those who lease commercial property may find themselves unwilling participants in complex proceedings before the U.S. bankruptcy courts when a tenant files bankruptcy. Meanwhile, the lease becomes an asset among the "property...more

Rosenberg Martin Greenberg LLP

Virginia Supreme Court Recognizes Exception to American Rule For Covenants Not to Sue

Under what is referred to as the “American Rule,” successful litigants in state and federal courts in the United States generally cannot recover their attorney’s fees and expenses from their opponents. Unless there is either...more

Carlton Fields

Third Circuit Affirms District Court’s Denial of Attorneys’ Fees Absent a Valid Statutory or Contractual Right to Additional Fees

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Betty Frison invented a product related to hair weaving and subsequently entered into an agreement with Davison Design to promote her product. The agreement required that the parties arbitrate any dispute. After believing...more

Rivkin Radler LLP

New York Insurance Coverage Law Update

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United States District Court Orders Insured To Produce Certain Pre-Litigation Documents But Not Others Deemed Work Product 99 Wall sued Allied World seeking coverage under a property policy for water losses at 99 Wall’s...more

Jones Day

American Rule Applied to PTAB Attorney’s Fees

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In Amneal Pharmaceuticals LLC v. Almirall, LLC, the Federal Circuit recently found 35 U.S.C. § 285 did not authorize the Court awarding attorney’s fees for conduct occurring at the PTAB. No. 2020-1106, 2020 WL 2961939, at *2...more

Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP

Supreme Court: Patent Office Cannot Be Reimbursed for Attorney and Paralegal Salaries

In Peters v. NantKwest, Inc., the Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision written by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, held that the “all expenses of the proceedings” provision of a 35 U.S.C. § 145 civil appeal does not include the...more

Fish & Richardson

Supreme Court Holds USPTO Cannot Recover Its Attorney's Fees Under § 145

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On December 11, 2019, the Supreme Court of the United States upheld the long-standing presumption that parties are responsible for their own attorney’s fees—holding that the “[a]ll expenses of the proceedings” provision of...more

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