Court Opinion

ID: 9440598
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-03 16:57:00.112251+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:27:48.710522
License: Public Domain

McKEOWN, Circuit Judge,
concurring in part and dissenting in part:
I concur in the majority’s disposition except with respect to the award of attorneys’ fees to Pacific Fuel Company. By its terms, California Civil Code § 1717 applies only to actions “on a contract.” See Cal. Civ.Code § 1717 (“In any action on a contract, where the contract specifically provides that attorney’s fees and costs, which are incurred to enforce that contract, shall be awarded ... then the party who is determined to be the party prevailing on the contract ... shall be entitled to ... attorney’s fees.”) (emphasis added). California courts have consistently held that a fraud claim seeking damages sounds in tort, and is not “on a contract” for the purposes of section 1717. Loube v. Loube, 64 Cal.App.4th 421, 74 Cal.Rptr.2d 906, *612906 (1998). A tort claim cannot be converted into a contract claim simply because it is related to a contract. Accordingly, I respectfully dissent.