Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Re: Attorney's fees

I guess your question is: Can your lawyer recover fees from you although not found liable and the other party is required to pay your attorney's fees?

That depends on how your retainer agreement with your lawyer is written. If it provides that you are to pay your attorney for his/her time put in on your case, you're required to pay your attorney. If the attorney recovers money from the party ordered to pay, then you should be reimbursed.

If your agreement with your attorney was a contingency -- that is, your attorney would only get paid a percentage of the amount recovered -- then you wouldn't be obligated to pay the attorney's fees. Check your retainer agreement. These are, to coin a phrase, apples and oranges. A straight-fee contract with your attorney has nothing to do with outside sources of repayment.

Re: Attorney's fees

Yes, of course. Shame on you for trying to stiff your attorney--it sounds like he or she did a good job for you. When a judge orders that one side has to pay the other side's legal fees, all that means is that the other side has a right to get reimbursed for what he has or is going to pay his attorney, but it does not relieve him of the contract he has with his attorney.