Daniels v. Johnson

Attorney fees under ORS 20.105(1) are awarded only when the moving party defeats a claim which has a record entirely devoid of supporting evidence.

Appellants appealed a supplemental judgment that awarded attorney fees, costs to Respondents, and enhanced prevailing party fees. Appellants assigned error to the decision by the trial court to award fees pursuant to ORS 20.105(1). On appeal, Appellants argued that because the trial court denied Respondents’ motion for directed verdict, their existed an objectively reasonable basis for Appellants’ nuisance claim. In response, Respondents’ argued that the record pointed to a lack of support in Appellants nuisance claim. Under ORS 20.105(1), attorney fees are awarded only when the moving party defeats a claim which has a record entirely devoid of supporting evidence. The Court held that because the record was not entirely devoid of evidence that supported the Appellants’ nuisance claim against Respondents, the trial court erred to award attorney fees to Respondents under ORS 20.105(1). Reversed and remanded in part, affirmed in part.