Opinion ID: 559868
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: interest and fees

Text: 33 CIS's final assignment of error relates to prejudgment interest and attorneys' fees. 9 These embellishments were added to the verdict by the court pursuant to Rules 44.1(d) and 44.3(b) of the Puerto Rico Rules of Civil Procedure. 10 Under these provisions, a losing party who has been obstinate during the course of a lawsuit can be held liable for prejudgment interest (if a money judgment has eventuated) and for its adversary's attorneys' fees. In diversity cases where Puerto Rico law supplies the rule of decision, the federal court must utilize these provisions. See Navarro de Cosme v. Hospital Pavia, 922 F.2d 926, 934 (1st Cir.1991); Pan American World Airways, Inc. v. Ramos, 357 F.2d 341, 342 (1st Cir.1966); see also Peckham v. Continental Casualty Ins. Co., 895 F.2d 830, 841 (1st Cir.1990) (In a diversity case, state rather than federal law controls the question of attorneys' fees.). 34 A finding of obstinacy requires that the court determine a litigant to have been unreasonably adamant or stubbornly litigious, beyond the acceptable demands of the litigation, thereby wasting time and causing the court and the other litigants unnecessary expense and delay. See La Playa Santa Marina, Inc. v. Chris-Craft Corp., 597 F.2d 1, 7 (1st Cir.1979); Soto v. Lugo, 76 P.R.R. 416, 419 (1954). We review the trier's determination of whether a party has been obstinate in a deferential manner, using an abuse-of-discretion approach. See, e.g., Marshall v. Perez Arzuaga, 828 F.2d 845, 852 (1st Cir.1987), cert. denied, 484 U.S. 1065, 108 S.Ct. 1027, 98 L.Ed.2d 991 (1988). Here, the district court made explicit findings relative to appellant's unreasonable pertinaciousness, its stubbornly litigious posture, its inordinate insistence on indefensible positions, its stalling tactics, and its disregard of court orders. De Leon Lopez, 742 F.Supp. at 48. These findings were amply bottomed and justified the imposts under Puerto Rico law.