Opinion ID: 480273
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The $50,000.00 Award For Bad Faith Damages

Text: 3 The district court awarded to appellee Georgia Railroad Bank (Bank) $50,000.00 bad faith damages. To justify this award, the court cited O.C.G.A. Sec. 13-6-11, which provides that a plaintiff is entitled to recover the expenses of litigation where defendant acted in bad faith, has been stubbornly litigious, or caused the plaintiff unnecessary trouble and expense. But an award for litigation expenses under O.C.G.A. Sec. 13-6-11 must be supported by evidence that the expenses were reasonable. See First Bank of Clayton County v. Dollar, 159 Ga.App. 815, 285 S.E.2d 203, 205 (1981). Mere guesswork is not sufficient to justify such an award of litigation expenses. See Davis v. Fomon, 144 Ga.App. 14, 240 S.E.2d 581, 581 (1977). Although the Bank documented litigation expenses in the amount of $102,804.51 and overhead in the amount of $5,109.31, the Bank presented no evidence that it incurred an additional $50,000.00 of reasonable attorney fees. Therefore, the district court erred by awarding an additional $50,000.00 as bad faith damages. 4