Scott Co. of California v. Blount, Inc.

Opinion

KENNARD, J.

A party’s entitlement to attorney fees in a lawsuit based on a contract containing an attorney fees provision often depends not just upon the language of the contractual provision but also upon the complex interaction of several statutes that affect a party’s contractual right to attorney fees, as this case illustrates.

Here, plaintiff sued defendant for contract and tort claims; the contract included a unilateral attorney fees provision permitting defendant to recover its attorney fees if it sued to enforce the contract or to recover damages for its breach, but not…