Mari v. Hawkins
Plaintiff Waleed Mari, doing business as Waleed Mari & Associates, retained the surveying services of defendants, Rodrick H. Hawkins, doing business as Hawkins & Associates Engineering, and Hawkins & Associates Engineering, Inc., to determine the corners and boundaries of plaintiff’s land. The survey performed by defendants was in error, which plaintiff did not discover until after he had relied on it to his detriment. Plaintiff filed a lawsuit for damages in superior court, alleging both contract and tort causes of action against defendants. At the same time, plaintiff demanded arbitration of the dispute pursuant to the terms of the parties’ contract. One month later, the parties agreed to proceed in superior court rather than go to binding arbitration. Following a bench trial, the trial court found that plaintiff prevailed on his cause of action for professional negligence and a monetary judgment was entered in his favor. Plaintiff moved for recovery of his attorney fees pursuant to paragraph 37 of the parties’ contract. The trial court denied the motion on the ground that paragraph 37 only authorized an award of attorney fees in the limited context of arbitration proceedings. Plaintiff appeals from that order, arguing that the trial court misconstrued the terms of the contract regarding attorney fee recovery. We will affirm.
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