Ch.10 Attorneys’ Fees

Subject(s):

Contract — Loss of profit and damages — UN Sales Convention and damages

This chapter shows that attorneys' fees are a substantive and not a procedural matter, and hence are included under article 74. Article 74, in the spirit of the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG), contains no direct reference to individual classes of losses except loss of profit. The answer to whether attorneys' fees were intended to be included in the sphere of the provision lies in the application of the general principles on which the CISG relies. Great care must be taken to distinguish between court costs and legal fees if any autonomous interpretation of article 74 is to be developed. Even so, tribunals and courts throughout the CISG realm do not agree on this matter. This is demonstrated by comparing cases from different jurisdictions.