Fees for Fees – Be Specific in Your Contract

Attorney’s fees are a creature of contract or statute. Regarding your contract, if you want attorney’s fees for litigating the amount associated with an award granting you entitlement to attorney’s fees (a concept known as “fees for fees”), you need to make sure contract is broad enought to cover the award of these fees. Otherwise, these attorney’s fees will not be recovered.

In a recent appeal, Isbell v. Bohrer, 50 Fla.L.Weekly D1267a (Fla. 4th DCA 2025), an attorney’s fees provision read, “Should any litigation or legal proceeding be required by either party for the enforcement of this Agreement, the prevailing party shall be entitled to an award of reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs which they incurred in the enforcement of this Agreement.”  A party prevailed, was entitled to attorney’s fees, and the court entered an attorney’s fees judgment that gave the party “fees for fees.” This was appealed and reversed.  The appellate court found the phrase “Should any litigation or legal proceeding be required…for the enforcement of this Agreement,” was NOT broad enough to include an award of fees for fees. In other words, that language was not broad enough to include a recovery for litigation the amount of attorney’s fees.

In a nutshell, if you enter a contract and want “fees for fees,” just be specific in your attorney’s fees provision to ensure the attorney’s fees provision encompasses fees for fees.

 

Please contact David Adelstein at dadelstein@gmail.com or (954) 361-4720 if you have questions or would like more information regarding this article. You can follow David Adelstein on Twitter @DavidAdelstein1.