People ex rel. Salgado v. López
People ex rel. Salgado v. López
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the court.
This is an appeal from an order 'approving a memoran-
“Section 327. — Parties to actions or proceedings, including The People of Porto Bico, are entitled to costs and expenses subject to the rules hereinafter provided.
“In all cases where costs have been allowed to one party in an action or proceeding in a district court, said party shall, in the discretion of the district court, be entitled to receive from the defeated party an amount representing the value of the services of his attorney or a part of such amount; Provided, That nothing in this section shall- be deemed to allow attorney’s- fees to be included in costs taxed against a defendant who shall not have entered appearance in an action or proceeding; And provided further, that the fees and costs shall be allowed' in the discretion of the judge taking cognizance of the action or proceeding, considering also the degree of blame, if any, of the party against whom judgment is rendered.”
We feel bound to bold that this was a law of general application and that the' intention of the Legislature was to include all cases where a different intent was not clearly shown. We find no such different intent in the legislation of the Island. We reached a similar conclusion in the case of Candal et al. v. Vargas et al., 29 P. R. R. 603.
Appellant, however, insists that the fees awarded were excessive and refers us to the case of Bertrán et al. v. Carrasquillo, 29 P. R. R. 524. Generally to revise the discretion of the court in awarding counsel fees we ought to be-, able to see clearly an abuse- of discretion. In Lassalle et al. v. Hilla et al., 29 P. R. R. 469, we held that this court would
The award should be reduced to $1,000 and, as so modified,
Affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.