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RCW 4.24.005

Tort actions—Attorneys' fees—Determination of reasonableness.

Applied in 7 court decisions — leading case Coppernoll v. Reed (2005)

Most recently applied in In Re Settlement/Guardianship of AGM (January 2010)

1987 c 212 s 1601; 1986 c 305 s 201.

How often courts cite this section

19972000201020
citing decisions per year

Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.

Any party charged with the payment of attorney's fees in any tort action may petition the court not later than forty-five days of receipt of a final billing or accounting for a determination of the reasonableness of that party's attorneys' fees. The court shall make such a determination and shall take into consideration the following:

(1) The time and labor required, the novelty and difficulty of the questions involved, and the skill requisite to perform the legal service properly;

(2) The likelihood, if apparent to the client, that the acceptance of the particular employment will preclude other employment by the lawyer;

(3) The fee customarily charged in the locality for similar legal services;

(4) The amount involved and the results obtained;

(5) The time limitations imposed by the client or by the circumstances;

(6) The nature and length of the professional relationship with the client;

(7) The experience, reputation, and ability of the lawyer or lawyers performing the services;

(8) Whether the fee is fixed or contingent;

(9) Whether the fixed or contingent fee agreement was in writing and whether the client was aware of his or her right to petition the court under this section;

(10) The terms of the fee agreement.

Official source: Washington State Legislature. Reproduced from public-domain Washington statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.