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A federal district court in Texas ordered a party who filed a lawsuit covered by an arbitration agreement to reimburse the other party for attorney fees incurred in enforcing the arbitration agreement.
In Daniels v. Progressive Turf, LLC, No. 4:05-CV-394, 2006 WL 2589114 (E.D. Tex. Sep. 7, 2006), Daniels sued Progressive Turf despite a previous ruling in a “virtually identical” lawsuit that the dispute was subject to arbitration under the parties’ license agreement.
After the Court dismissed the second lawsuit, Progressive Turf sought an award of attorney fees pursuant to the license agreement, which provided that attorney fees would be awarded to the “prevailing party” in any action brought to obtain relief from a breach of the agreement.
The Court found that by virtue of dismissal, Progressive Turf was a “prevailing party” entitled to an award of attorney fees. The Court also found that Daniels did not have a “reasonable chance” of prevailing since the earlier lawsuit was referred to arbitration. The award of attorney fees totaled $9,200.
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