An interesting bill, House Bill 1156, Senate Bill 651, is making its way through the Tennessee legislature, which will radically shift the risks of litigation by awarding litigation costs and “reasonable and necessary attorney fees” to the prevailing party, even where no agreement to pay such fees exists between the parties. Today, the legislation passed in the House Judiciary Subcommittee–unanimously.
This would be very different than the current law. As it is now, a party cannot recover attorney fees in Tennessee litigation unless they have a written agreement granting the right to recover those fees or unless they sue under a statute that expressly provides those rights. Absent either of those, a creditor can’t recover attorney fees.
This bill, which would be the new Tenn. Code Ann. 20-12-119, awards “reasonable and necessary attorneys fees” (as well as other litigation expenses) in civil cases to the “prevailing party” (as long as the party did not hire its counsel on a contingency fee basis). The text says that the “judge shall” grant this recovery–it’s not discretionary.
The ability to recover attorneys fees is a big deal in litigation, as the potential of paying for the other side’s lawyers is often a detriment to prolonged fights. On creditor actions, especially smaller claims, creditors often base their decision on whether to sue on whether they can recover their expenses. Without that, the cost of suing on debts and small claims doesn’t make sense.
This proposed legislation is certainly a drastic change to Tennessee practice and, as much as I think it would benefit creditors in general, I question the fairness of the law. Frankly, litigation isn’t always “Right Versus Wrong,” and matters sometimes get tried not because of stubbornness, but because there is no clear answer to an issue. To award fees in such disputes without any such agreement seems unduly punitive.
Creditors Rights 101 
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