Is a plaintiff entitled to attorney's fees in a civil proceeding?

provided by statute, a prevailing party is entitled as a matter of right to recover costs in any action or proceeding." Code of Civil Procedure section 1033.5 provides, in subdivision (a)(10), that attorney's fees are "allowable as costs under Section 1032" when they are "authorized by" either "Contract," "Statute," or "Law." "Thus, recoverable litigation costs do include attorney fees, but only when the party entitled to costs has a legal basis, independent of the cost statutes and grounded in an agreement, statute, or other law, upon which to claim recovery of attorney fees." (Santisas v. Goodin (1998) 17 Cal.4th 599, 606 (Santisas).)