Does a litigant have to have actually incurred attorney fees?

Modern jurisprudence does not require a litigant seeking an attorney fee award to have actually incurred the fees. "[I]n cases involving a variety of statutory fee-shifting provisions, California courts have routinely awarded fees to compensate for legal work performed on behalf of a party pursuant to an attorney-client relationship, although the party did not have a personal obligation to pay for such services out of his or her own assets." (Lolley v. Campbell (2002) 28 Cal.4th 367, 373, 121 Cal.Rptr.2d 571, 48 P.3d 1128.) Moreover, the court noted: "The right of a party to seek an award of statutory attorney fees is not equivalent to a right to retain such fees." (Id. at p. 373, fn. 4, 121 Cal.Rptr.2d 571, 48 P.3d 1128.)