Gauthier v. Gauthier

Citations

• 2022 Ohio 541

Syllabus

ATTORNEY FEES – CONTRACTS: The trial court did not err in holding that defendant's attorney fees and costs were recoverable in plaintiff's action to enforce the parties' agreement where the unambiguous language of the agreement allowed recovery to a prevailing party of all reasonable fees arising out of or related to a proceeding to enforce the agreement. The trial court did not err in holding that defendant was the prevailing party in plaintiff's action to enforce the parties' agreement where judgment had been entered in favor of defendant on the merits of each of plaintiff's claims under the agreement. The trial court erred by prohibiting plaintiff from examining defendant's counsel as to the reasonableness of his fees or costs, effectively denying plaintiff the opportunity to challenge defendant's evidence as to the reasonableness of her attorney fees and costs. The trial court did not err by prohibiting plaintiff and his counsel from testifying as to the reasonableness of defendant's attorney fees and costs because plaintiff could offer no relevant testimony on the issue and any testimony by plaintiff's counsel would be legal conclusions that could be made during argument.