California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from Chodos v. Borman, B252446 (Cal. App. 2014):
84 Cal.App.4th 1175, 1187.) "One-sided attorney's fees clauses can thus be used as instruments of oppression to force settlements of dubious or unmeritorious claims. [Citations.] Section 1717 was obviously designed to remedy this evil." (Coast Bank v. Holmes (1971) 19 Cal.App.3d 581, 596-597.) Ketchum, supra, 24 Cal.4th 1122 makes clear that the use of the lodestar adjustment method in determining a statutory fee award depends on an analysis of the particular statute.
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