Opinion ID: 1752024
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: Bank's Claim to 10% Attorneys' Fees

Text: The $100,000 note, the $20,000 note, and the $1,538 note provided for the payment of 10% attorneys' fees of the principal of the note if placed in the hands of an attorney for collection. There was no provision for attorneys' fees on the $300 note. The Bank agreed to pay its attorneys for the collection of their notes a reasonable fee for their services. The chancellor allowed an attorneys' fee of $6,000 instead of $12,153.80 (10% of the principal amount of the three notes) claimed by the Bank. The receiver contends that the court acted within its discretion in setting such attorneys' fees at a figure less than the ten percent stipulated in the notes, but fails to cite any authority justifying reducing the attorneys' fees below that contracted for in the notes. Absent a showing that the Bank would make a profit on the provisions in the note regarding the attorneys' fees, and absent a showing that the attorneys' fees were unreasonably high, we hold the contract was enforceable and that the Bank is entitled to the ten percent attorneys' fees stipulated in the notes. Powell v. Sowell, 245 Miss. 53, 145 So.2d 168 (1962); Peoples Bank & Trust Co. v. Garner, 218 Miss. 72, 65 So.2d 273 (1953); Burt v. Brashears, 118 Miss. 339, 79 So. 182 (1918); Brahan v. First National Bank, 72 Miss. 266, 16 So. 203 (1894).