Attorney's Fee Awards
Categories: Regulations
An annual award ceremony celebrating the most creative padding of an attorney's bill during the previous year. In the 1990s, it was usually hosted by Billy Crystal, but since then, it's kind of gone downhill. Robert Shapiro, where art thou?
We kid! Lawyers never pad their bills, or so our attorneys have advised us...
Back to the term "attorney fee awards." The phrase refers to a particular part of a lawsuit judgement forcing one side of the lawsuit to pay for the other side's lawyers.
See, during a civil trial, everyone pays for their own attorney (the "you have a right to an attorney...if you can't afford one, one will be provided for you" thing on all the cop shows only applies to criminal cases). However, when the judgement is issued, it might include an attorney fee award.
This provision, which isn't always included, makes one side pay for the lawyers employed by the other side. It's a bit like having a divorce judgement include a provision that you have to pay for your ex to go out on a date with someone else.
