Opinion ID: 7101
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: attorneys' fees claim

Text: 68 Chrysler Credit contends that it is entitled to attorneys' fees. Under Louisiana law, attorneys' fees cannot be recovered unless authorized by law or contract. Rivnor Properties v. O'Donnell, 633 So.2d 735, 748 (La.App.Ct.1994). Chrysler Credit has cited no statutory basis for attorneys' fees. It cites Hyman v. Hibernia Bank & Trust Co., 81 So. 718 (1919), as support for its contention that coconspirators who as a part of a conspiracy breach a contract are liable for the attorneys' fees if they are provided for in the contract. 69 In Hyman, the Supreme Court awarded attorneys' fees to a plaintiff who had sued two defendants for conspiring to violate the plaintiff's lease. Only one of the defendants had been a party to the lease. A close reading of this case reveals that there is no clear legal basis for the court's award of attorneys' fees. The award of attorneys' fees was only mentioned in the last paragraph of the majority opinion and was made without explanation. We hold that Hyman does not provide a sufficient legal basis for the recovery of attorneys' fees.