Plaintiff limited liability partnership and two other plaintiffs filed a complaint against defendants, a medical corporation and a corporate officer, alleging breach of contract and tort related claims. The corporate officer was dismissed from the action as a nonparty to the contract. The Superior Court of Los Angeles County, California, awarded him attorney fees. Plaintiffs appealed.
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Overview
The issue presented by the appeal was whether a defendant who was not a party to a contract sued for breach of that contract and various related tort and statutory causes of action could recover attorney fees incurred in defending the noncontract causes of action if the plaintiff filed a voluntary dismissal with prejudice. The court held that he could not. Cal. Civ. Code § 1717(a) provided that the party prevailing in an action on a contract was entitled to reasonable attorney fees. However, Cal. Civ. Code § 1717 applied only to breach of contract actions, not to tort actions. Therefore, defendant was not entitled to recover attorney fees.
Outcome
The order of the trial court awarding the corporate officer attorney fees and costs was reversed.