Berger Farms v. First Interstate Bank

Plaintiffs challenge a Court of Appeals order that awarded attorney fees to defendant on appeal under a contractual provision granting to the “prevailing party” the right to obtain reasonable attorney fees. We are presented with two questions on review: (1) whether the Court of Appeals had authority to award attorney fees, given its earlier conclusion that most of the parties’ underlying dispute was subject to arbitration; and (2) whether defendant was entitled to attorney fees at that particular stage of the proceedings as the “prevailing party” under ORS 20.015. 1 We conclude that the Court…