Attorneys' Fees Awarded by Court, based on Contract, to Prevailing Parrty
In Edix Media Group, Inc. v. Mahani, (Del. Ch., Jan. 25, 2007), read opinion here, the Chancery Court awarded fees to the prevailing party, after trial, in a covenant not to compete dispute based on a contract clause that required one party to "indemnify and hold harmless" the other party from any costs related to enforcement/breach of the agreement. The post-trial decision on the merits was summarized on my blog here.
The court addressed the analysis for fees awarded based on contractual provisions, as compared to other contexts. Although the court allowed for consideration of unequal bargaining power, in this case, the court found that there was no provision that required the fees to be "reasonable" but in any event the court blamed the losing party for responsibility for many of the fees incurred due to the risk that the losing party took in going to trial in the face of evidence of likely liability.
