[MRM]

Jim, there's a difference between legal fees and costs. If you prevail on the lawsuit you will probably be awarded costs as a matter of law along with the dismissal of the claim. Costs include filing fees, copy expense, deposition transcripts, out of pocket expenses.

Fees are not recoverable unless provided for by statute, contract, or the judge finds the claim frivolous. In a breach of contract sort of suit you might have a contract where if there is a dispute between the parties the prevailing party gets attorneys' fees, but unless you have that kind of contract, there isn't likely any way to recover attorneys' fees. There are some specialized statutes that provide for attorneys' fees in situations like consumer fraud claims or land disputes, but nothing I can think of for a garden variety business dispute.

That brings us to frivolous claims. Don't get excited. Frivolous in legal terms means having no basis in fact or law, and not making a good faith argument to extend the current state of the law. In other words, if the judge doesn't toss the suit early based just on the claims in the complaint, you probably are not dealing with what the law calls a frivolous suit. There is a difference between a claim that has no merit and a claim that is frivolous.

Sorry I couldn't be the bearer of better news.