TriMet v. Aizawa

Plaintiff appealed from a second supplemental judgment, in a condemnation action, awarding defendant additional attorney fees after the trial court had entered a first supplemental judgment that awarded attorney fees. In a condemnation case ORS 35.300(2) allows a trial court to award a defendant attorney fees incurred before service of an offer of compromise. Next, ORCP 68 allows an award of reasonable value of legal services related to the prosecution or defense of an action, known as “fees on fees.” ORS 35.300(2) does not preclude the application of ORCP 68. Plaintiff argued that ORS 35.300(2) placed a strict limit on the award to only fees incurred before the offer. The Court disagreed stating that the defendant may recover legal fees incurred in the process of recovering the second supplemental judgment as well as the legal fees incurred prior to the first supplemental judgment. The Court reasoned that ORCP 68 operates as an independent source of authority for an award of “fees on fees.” Therefore, ORCP 68 authorized the defendant to seek the requested “fees on fees” as legal service related to the defense of the condemnation action. Affirmed.