Equine Law Blog
The right contract language can help avoid disputes or reduce your expense if a dispute should arise. Details can separate marginal contracts from effective ones. Details can also help prevent legal disputes. A key detail to consider for a contract is attorney fees.
We receive calls from many people who assume they will win back their legal fees when the case concludes. Not necessarily. In the United States, we do not have an automatic “loser pay” system for legal disputes. Exceptions can exist, such as a statute or court rule that allows a party to collect attorney fees from the losing party in an adjudicated dispute.
Contracts can change this, however, by specifying who will pay legal fees and court costs should a dispute arise. Contract provisions addressing attorney fees vary widely. For example:
- Some contracts specify that if two parties in a contract become involved in a legal dispute involving the contract, the winning party will recover his or her legal fees from the losing party.
- Some contracts specify that only one party will be entitled to recover its legal fees from the other. Some boarding contracts contain clauses specifying that the stable will recover its attorney fees from the boarder if any legal dispute arises between them.
Discuss these and other provisions of contracts with a knowledgeable lawyer.
ShareholderJulie Fershtman is considered to be one of the nation's leading attorneys in the field of equine law. She has successfully tried equine cases before juries in four states. A frequent author and speaker on legal issues, she has written ...
