Court Rejects Defendant’s Attempt to Use Declaratory Judgment Act as a Vehicle to Recover Attorneys’ Fees
July 16, 2014Among several issues on appeal in this dispute between a commercial landlord and tenant, the Court of Appeals considered whether the defendant could recover attorneys’ fees pursuant to the declaratory judgments act. After the plaintiff sued the defendant for breach of contract for failing to construct ramps in compliance with the ADA, the defendant responded by requesting a declaratory judgment that he had no duty to pay for the ramps. Because the defendant’s counsel admitted at trial that the issues raised in his declaratory judgment action would be resolved by the plaintiff’s breach of contract lawsuit, the court rejected the defendant’s attempt to recover attorneys’ fees, noting the rule that “a party cannot use the declaratory judgments act merely as a vehicle to obtain otherwise impermissible attorney’s fees.”
