An Attorney’s Fees Award Just In Time For Our Political Silly Season.
Somehow we managed to miss this recent attorney’s fee award involving the business of a certain aspiring political candidate, reality show host, and real estate developer.
The Miami Herald reported on July 22, 2016, that a judge in a Miami Dade courtroom ordered nearly $300K be paid in attorney’s fees “over a lawsuit related to unpaid bills brought by a local paint store against the Trump National Doral Miami golf resort.”
We surmise from the newspaper report that Trump National Doral Miami played hardball, because the case involved a mere $34K in unpaid bills for paint that had been sold to it. The Paint Spot had a lien against the resort property, and the judge had ordered foreclosure against the resort. “All because, according to the lawsuit, Trump allegedly tried to stiff The Paint Spot on its last payment of $34,863 on a $200,000 contract for paint used in the renovation of the home of golf’s famed Blue Monster two years ago.”
The resort’s inability to out, out The Paint Spot reinforces a theme of our blog: attorney’s fees often become the tail that wags the dog, as they come to overshadow the petty stakes involved in many a lawsuit.
The Paint Store’s intrepid counsel must have had the matter on a contingency, because the judge “tacked on a 75 percent ‘risk’ fee, partly because the store’s lawyers took the risk that they would never be paid if they lost.”
Hat Tip to Catherine Campbell, co-contributor Marc’s spouse, who brought the July 22, 2016 article in the Miami Herald to our attention.