Commercial landlords and tenants routinely negotiate detailed lease agreements with provisions designed to protect their interests in case of disputes. These agreements are intended to help avoid litigation. But when litigation arises and business owners have to hire attorneys, they usually want to know who pays the attorney’s fees? While Texas generally follows the “American Rule” where each party bears their own legal costs, commercial leases frequently include fee-shifting provisions that award attorney’s fees to the “prevailing party” in litigation. But what happens when a party “prevails” in a lawsuit but doesn’t recover any monetary damages? Are they a prevailing…
