Twin Cities Business Litigation Blog : Minneapolis Business Litigation Lawyer & Attorney : Gavin P. Craig Law Firm : St. Paul, Twin Cities, Minnesota MN

The Wall Street Journal has an interesting article in today’s edition - May 24, 2011, by Ashby Jones, about the Texas Legislature and a bill that appears destine to pass, that requires the loser in some cases to pay the attorney fees of the other party. Apparently the proposed law would require the loser to pay when a case is "kicked out of court" at a motion to dismiss stage of the proceedings.

In a very simplistic analysis this seems to be a good idea. A more thoughtful analysis raises a lot of questions. First of all, some cases are dismissed on a motion to dismiss, but many times these cases are dismissed on procedural and pleading grounds, and not the merits of the case. Also, these dismissals are many times without prejudice to allow the plaintiff to refile a new case, to repair some defect in the pleading.

Secondly, Texas will undoubtedly see a great surge in filings of motions to dismiss. The courts will need to deal with a surge in these motions, since the defendant has little to lose in bring the motion (which in most cases will be a frivolous motion). When the Plaintiff wins the motion and the case is not dismissed, does the defendant need to pay the Plaintiff's attorney fees? I am confident that this is not the intent. If a plaintiff wins a judgment against a corporate defendant, will the corporate defendant be responsible to the Plaintiff's fees.

While I think there are times when a loser pays system is appropriate, and sometimes there are frivolous lawsuits filed, I would like to think there is a better way to determine when to make the loser pay. If a claimant has no legal or factual basis for a claim, then the Plaintiff should pay for the Defendants legal costs. Fortunately, most cases are not frivolous.

If Texas would enact a pure loser pays system, then we would be able to see how it works. Maybe enact it for a trial period. Make the system fair and equal for everyone. Sure, it should make people think twice before bring an action - something they should do anyway. However, I expect that corporate America would oppose this proposal.

I will predict that only a small minority of cases will be dismissed on a motion to dismiss. However, some cases will certainly be decided by a summary judgment motion, which is different than a motion to dismiss. A summary judgment is a decision on the merits, where there are no material facts in dispute.

Finally, people who have no money will not care if they are responsible for a defendant's legal fees, since they will likely be judgment proof.

I will be interested to see the law when it is enacted, and to watch to see how it plays out. Laws which try to shift an advantage to one side to the other, are usually doomed to fail. To make it fair the loser pays system should apply to everyone, both plaintiff and defendant.
 

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The Koncise Drafter Blog has an interesting post concerning the interpretation of certain disclaimer contract language. The aggrieved party - a lessee, claimed fraud when the landlord failed to disclose that there was a bad odor in the premises where the lessee planned to operate a restaurant. Clearly this problem would have defeated the objective of using the space for a restaurant. To make things worse, the property manager knew about the problem, but had naturally failed to disclose this issue to the new lessee. (This sounds a lot like a Seinfeld episode.)

The lease language provided that:

14.18 Representations. Tenant acknowledges that neither Landlord nor Landlord’s agents, employees or contractors have made any representations or promises with respect to the Site, the Shopping Center or this Lease except as expressly set forth herein.

14.21 Entire Agreement. This lease constitutes the entire agreement between the parties hereto with respect to the subject matter hereof, and no subsequent amendment or agreement shall be binding upon either party unless it is signed by each party. …

Not surprisingly, the lessee sued the landlord for fraud, among other things. The Landlord took the predictable position that the lessee had waived any claims for fraud.

The trial court found for the lessee, the Texas Court of Appeals reversed, and the Texas Supreme Court reversed the Court of Appeals. The question that the court was grappling with is whether the parties effectively disclaimed reliance on the representations by the lessor, thereby negating any claim of fraud. I am sure that when the lease was drafted that was likely the intent, this is very standard language (or some version of this language). The Blog correctly points out that when a drafter clearly states that the other party waives any claims for fraud, it is unlikely that the parties will sign the contract. So the language by necessity needs to be a little more subtle.

I think it is also the case when reviewing commercial lease contracts, most reviewers will probably skim the standard boilerplate language such as the term at issue in this case. After all, what owner wants to pay a lawyer to analyze and research language that is considered standard boilerplate language that has, in one form or another, been around for a long time.

In my career I've only once been presented with a lease for a client where the other party wanted my client to disclaim any claim for fraud. We did not agree to that language.

Another issue is whether the lessor had a duty to inform the lessee of the problem knowing that it would interfere with the lessee's intended use of the building. The lesson is clear, if you want the other party to waive any an all rights against your client, you had better say so.
 

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