Saturday, June 30, 2018

New fee shifting decision

Debtor who paid off debt after collection lawsuit was filed but before a judgment was entered avoided an attorney fee award under 12 OS 936.  (But, watch for contractual fee-shifting provisions.)

"This Court has said before that 'without some judgment or judicial decree that has changed the relationship between the parties so that defendant is judicially required to do something, i.e., some enforceable judgment, plaintiffs cannot be said to be the successful or prevailing parties entitled to an award of attorney fees.' Moreover, we have said that, on a claim in which damages are a necessary element, a plaintiff cannot be said to have prevailed on that claim unless he or she has been awarded some modicum of monetary relief."

http://www.oscn.net/applications/oscn/DeliverDocument.asp?CiteID=483011