Total Fees to Law Firm Came To $416,680.30. Fee-shifting can be a game changer in litigation, including litigation relating to an arbitration where the fees clause is broad in nature. Plaintiff client learned that lesson all too well in litigation against his former counsel, as demonstrated by Milder v. Holley, Case No. B331152 (2d Dist., Div. 5 Jan. 23, 2026) (unpublished). What happened is that former client unsuccessfully tried, in litigation, to void an arbitration agreement as against his former attorneys. Client’s problem was that the retainer agreement had a broad fees clause, applying to fees incurred “in any action, arbitration, or proceeding arising out of” the retainer agreement. Client lost the attempt to void the arbitration agreement in the “voiding” lawsuit, a result affirmed on appeal. Based on the breadth of the fees clause, both the trial and appellate courts agreed that client was liable to law firm for a total of $416,680.30 in fees, $241,048.50 at the trial level and $175,631.80 for work in the prior unsuccessful appeal incurred by client’s former law firm.