Thursday, March 25, 2021

Award of attorney's fees

https://www.lawphil.net/judjuris/juri2020/jan2020/gr_201812_2020.html

THIRD THELMA B. SIAN REPRESENTED BY ROMUALDO A. SIAN, PETITIONER, VS. SPOUSES CAESAR A. SOMOSO AND ANITA B. SOMOSO, THE FORMER BEING SUBSTITUTED BY HIS SURVIVING SON, ANTHONY VOLTAIRE B. SOMOSO, MACARIO M. DE GUZMAN, JR., IN HIS CAPACITY AS SHERIFF III OF THE REGIONAL COURT OF PANABO, DAVAO, BRANCH 4, RESPONDENTS. G.R. No. 201812, January 22, 2020

“x x x.

The award of attorney's fees should be deleted as well. The general rule is that attorney's fees cannot be recovered as part of damages because of the policy that no premium should be placed on the right to litigate. They are not to be awarded every time a party wins a suit. The power of the court to award attorney's fees under Article 2208 demands factual, legal, and equitable justification. Even when a claimant is compelled to litigate with third persons or to incur expenses to protect his rights, still attorney's fees may not be awarded where no sufficient showing of bad faith could be reflected in a party's persistence in a case other than an erroneous conviction of the righteousness of his cause. (Spouses Timado v. Rural Bank of San Jose, Inc., 789 Phil. 453, 460 [2016]).

X x x.”