García v. Usera
García v. Usera
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the Court.
Section 327 of the Code of Civil Procedure (1933 ed.) reads as follows:
“Parties- to actions or proceedings, including The People of Puerto Rico, are entitled to costs and expenses subject- to the rules hereinafter provided.
*381 “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.”
Plaintiff prayed for a judgment containing three pronouncements. The third of these referred to the question of costs including attorney’s fees. Defendants appeared and consented that a judgment should be rendered as prayed for without the necessity of a trial as to the first and second of the proposed pronouncements and also consented that costs without attorney’s fees should be awarded to plaintiff. At the trial, plaintiff introduced evidence to establish “the degree of blame” involved in certain acts whereby defendants made it necessary for plaintiff to sue them. The judgment awarded costs including attorney’s fees to plaintiff.
If the first proviso of Section 327 is to be literally construed, a defendant who has appeared in the action cannot invoke the prohibition against the inclusion of attorney’s fees even though he appears for the sole purpose of consenting to a judgment as prayed for by plaintiff (except as to attorney’s fees) that is to say, a judgment including costs without attorney’s fees. We cannot bring ourselves to believe that this was the intention of the legislature.
Plaintiff, as we have already pointed, out, had prayed for an award of costs expressly including attorney’s flees. Section 694 of the Code of Civil Procedure (1933 ed.) provides that in an action of this kind “costs shall be taxed against the party against whom judgment is rendered”. If defendants had not appeared for the purpose of calling the court’s attention to the first proviso of Section 327, the dis
The appeal is from that part of the judgment only which includes attorney’s fees in the costs awarded to plaintiff. To that extent the judgment appealed from will be reversed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.