SF 429

2nd Engrossment - 87th Legislature (2011 - 2012) Posted on 02/14/2012 08:50am

A bill for an act
relating to civil actions; providing a factor for determining the amount of attorney
fees awarded in certain actions; proposing coding for new law in Minnesota
Statutes, chapter 549.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1.

new text begin [549.255] ATTORNEY FEES AWARDS.
new text end

new text begin Subdivision 1. new text end

new text begin Reasonable relation of fees to damages. new text end

new text begin When a statute provides
for the award of attorney fees to a party that has recovered money damages, the court,
in setting the amount of attorney fees, must, in addition to other factors, take into
consideration the reasonableness of the attorney fees sought in relation to the amount of
damages awarded to the prevailing party and the relation between the amount of damages
sought and the amount of damages awarded.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 2. new text end

new text begin Offer of judgment. new text end

new text begin If an offer of judgment is made by a party under Rule
68 of the Rules of Civil Procedure to a party who claims money damages pursuant, in
whole or in part, to a statute that provides for the award of attorney fees, and the party
claiming attorney fees does not obtain a verdict in excess of the offer, exclusive of attorney
fees, no attorney fees may be awarded for fees incurred after service of the offer of
judgment. The party that rejects an offer of judgment must disclose the amount of attorney
fees it has incurred as of the date of the service of the offer of judgment within the time
period provided by Rule 68 for the acceptance of an offer of judgment.
new text end

Sec. 2. new text begin EFFECTIVE DATE.
new text end

new text begin Section 1 is effective August 1, 2012, and applies to actions commenced on or
after that date.
new text end