Attorneys' fees

Courts have disagreed thus far whether attorneys' fees can be claimed as damages under Art. 74 CISG:

Attorneys' fees as litigation costs

Cases that found litigation costs not to be encompassed by Art. 74 CISG

Zapata Hermanos Sucesores, S.A. v. Hearthside Baking Comp.
U.S. Court of Appeals (7th Circuit)
USA, 19 November 2002 – 01-3402, 02-1867, 02-1915, CISG-online 684

Attorneys' fees are not damages under Art. 74 CISG. The court highlighted that otherwise the successful claimant could recover costs, while the successful respondent cannot neccesarily rely on a breach of contract by the claimant, and, thus, could not be granted such damages

Norfolk Southern Railway Co. v. Power Source Supply, Inc.
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania
USA, 25 July 2008 – 07-140-JJf, CISG-online 1776

Held that "[p]laintiff is not […] allowed attorney’s fees under Article 74 or any other part of the CISG."

San Lucio S.r.l. v. Import & Storage Services, LLC et al.
U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey
USA, 15 April 2009 – 07-3031(WJM), CISG-online 1836

Le Pupille v. Nickolas Imports, LLC
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia
USA, 15 May 2013 – 1:12-cv-668-TRJ, CISG-online 2678

Victory Foodservice Distributors Corp. v. N. Chr. Liatsos & Co. Ltd.
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
USA, 13 November 2017 – 17cv2227, CISG-online 2922

Minh Dung Aluminum Company, Ltd v. Aluminum Alloys MFG LLC
U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania
USA, 02 August 2021 – 1:20-cv-01764, CISG-online 5633

Held that costs and fees for filing the claim, for „legal research“ and of serving process on the Respondent could not be recovered under Art. 74 CISG.

Brands International Corporation v. Reach Companies, LLC
U.S. Court of Appeals (8th Circuit)
USA, 30 May 2024 – 23-2164, CISG-online 7006

Attorneys' fees as extra-judicial costs

Cases that found extra-judicial costs to be encompassed by Art. 74 CISG

Notice regarding non-conforming shoes case
Landgericht München I (District Court Munich I)
Germany, 06 May 2016 – 3 HK O 7733/15, CISG-online 2798

Lamborghini hauler case
Oberlandesgericht Koblenz (Court of Appeal Koblenz)
Germany, 10 September 2013 – 3 U 223/13, CISG-online 2472

Rolser S.A. v. Global Living Inc.
東京地裁平 (District Court Tokyo)
Japan, 03 June 2019 – 2018(Wa)No.9632, CISG-online 5643

Celli S.p.A. v. Agrolang BV
Gerechtshof Arnhem (Court of Appeal Arnhem)
Netherlands, 15 April 1997 – 95/570, CISG-online 1330

Raiffeisenbank Emsland-Mitte EG et al. v. Aan- en Verkoopcoöperatie "De Eendracht" U.A.
Rechtbank Overijssel (District Court Overijssel)
Netherlands, 15 April 2020 – C/08/202458 / HA ZA 17-254, CISG-online 5207

Held that Art. 74 CISG encompasses costs for legal assistance, opinions and the preparation of a defence, pointing out that these costs are especially to be expected in international cases. The court then scrutinizes each lawyer's billing

HolzBerg GmbH v. [...]
Rechtbank Overijssel (District Court Overijssel)
Netherlands, 02 March 2021 – 8750816 \ CV EXPL 20-3786, CISG-online 5533

Brands International Corporation v. Reach Companies, LLC
U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota
USA, 11 April 2023 – 0:2021cv01026, CISG-online 6279

Cases that found attorneys' fees incurred during court proceedings to be recoverable as damages under by Art. 74 CISG

Slovak-German sales contract case
Landgericht Deggendorf (District Court Deggendorf)
Germany, 26 November 2002 – 1 S 46/02, CISG-online 5247

Rolser S.A. v. Global Living Inc.
東京地裁平 (District Court Tokyo)
Japan, 03 June 2019 – 2018(Wa)No.9632, CISG-online 5643

Cases that found extra-judicial costs not to be encompassed by Art. 74 CISG

Ski wear and sportswear case
Handelsgericht des Kantons Zürich (Commercial Court Canton Zurich)
Switzerland, 22 November 2010 – HG070223/U/dz, CISG-online 2160

Due to the direct connection of the extra-judicial costs prior to the litigation with the litigation costs, these costs should be reimbursed within the scope of the latter, i.e. they are not damages under Art. 74 CISG

Cases left open whether extra-judicial costs are losses under Art. 74 CISG or are subject to national law

Merwestaal Moerdijk B.V. v. StaRo Stahlrohrhandelsgesellschaft mbH
Gerechthof 's-Hertogenbosch (Court of Appeal 's-Hertogenbosch)
Netherlands, 11 June 2019 – 200.239.305_01, CISG-online 5274

Since the costs were not substantiated sufficiently and their association with the contract in dispute was unclear, the Court did not have to decide whether they fall under Art. 74 CISG

Bibliography:

Keith William Diener, 'Recovering Attorneys' Fees under CISG: An Interpretation of Article 74', Nordic Journal of Commercial Law (NJCL) (2008), #1, 1–65 [– in English]

Milena Djordjevic, '“Mexican Revolution” in CISG Jurisprudence and Case-Law: Attorneys’ Fees As (Non)Recoverable Loss for Breach of Contract', in: Mirko Vasiljevic, Rainer Kulms, Tatjana Josipovic & Maja Stanivuković (eds.), Private Law Reform in South East Europe: Liber Amicorum Christa Jessel-Holst, Belgrade: Faculty of Law, University of Belgrade (2010), 199–220 [– in English]

John Felemegas, 'An Interpretation of Article 74 CISG by the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals', 15 Pace International Law Review (Pace Int'l L. Rev.) (2003), 91–147 [– in English]

John Felemegas, 'The award of counsel's fees under Article 74 CISG, in Zapata Hermanos Sucesores v. Hearthside Baking Co. (2001)', 6 Vindobona Journal of International Commercial Law and Arbitration (VJ) (2002), 30–39 [– in English]

Harry M. Flechtner, 'Recovering Attorneys' Fees as Damages under the U.N. Sales Convention: A Case Study on the New International Commercial Practice and the Role of Case Law in CISG Jurisprudence, with Comments on Zapata Hermanos Sucesores, S.A. v. Hearthside Baking Co.', 22 Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business (Nw. J. Int'l L. & Bus) (2002), 121–159 [– in English]

Harry M. Flechtner & Joseph Lookofsky, 'Viva Zapata! American Procedure and CISG Substance in a U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal', 7 Vindobona Journal of International Commercial Law and Arbitration (VJ) (2003), 93–104 [– in English]

Jay Forester, 'Who Pays the Bill? Recovery of Attorneys’ Fees Under the CISG', 17 Vindobona Journal of International Commercial Law and Arbitration (VJ) (2013), 191–208 [– in English]

Kathleen McGarvey Hidy & Keith William Diener, 'Damages under CISG: Attorneys' Fees and Other Losses in International Commercial Law', 29 Journal of Transnational Law and Policy (J. Transnat'l L. & Policy) (2019–2020), 1–75 [– in English]

Markus Jäger, Reimbursement for Attorney's Fees - A comparative Study of the Laws of Switzerland, Germany, France, England and the United States of America, International Arbitration Rules and the CISG, The Hague: Eleven International Publishing (2010) [– in German]

Troy Keily, 'How does the cookie crumble? Legal costs under a uniform interpretation of the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods', Nordic Journal of Commercial Law (NJCL) (2003), #1, 1–23 [– in English]

Joseph Lookofsky & Harry Flechtner, 'Zapata Retold: Attorneys’ Fees Are (Still) Not Governed by the CISG', 26 Journal of Law & Commerce (J.L. & Com.) (2006), 1–9 [– in English]

Stefan Kröll, Larry DiMatteo, Ulrich G. Schroeter, André Janssen & Camilla Baasch Andersen, 'Cost and Burden of Proof under the CISG – A Discussion amongst Experts', 20 International Trade and Business Law Review (ITBLR) (2017), 203–244 [– in English]

Burghard Piltz, 'Litigation Costs as Reimbursable Damages', in: Larry A. DiMatteo (ed.), International Sales Law: A Global Challenge, New York: Cambridge University Press (2014), 286–294 [– in English]

Burghard Piltz, 'Rechtsverfolgungskosten als ersatzfähiger Schaden', in: Andrea Büchler & Markus Müller-Chen (eds.), Private Law: national – global – comparative, Festschrift für Ingeborg Schwenzer zum 60. Geburtstag, Berne: Stämpfli (2011), 1387–1398 [– in German]

Geneviève Saumier, 'International debt collection and the CISG', in: David Franklin (ed.), International Commercial Debt Collection, Toronto: Thomson Carswell (2007), 11–21 [– in English]

Peter Schlechtriem, 'Anwaltskosten als Teil des ersatzfähigen Schadens', Praxis des Internationalen Privat- und Verfahrensrechts (IPRax) (2002), 226 [– in German]

Peter Schlechtriem, 'Legal Costs as Damages in the Application of UN Sales Law', 26 Journal of Law & Commerce (J.L. & Com.) (2006), 71–80 [– in English]

Peter Schlechtriem, 'Verfahrenskosten als Schaden in Anwendung des UN-Kaufrecht', Internationales Handelsrecht (IHR) (2006), 49 [– in German]

Ingeborg Schwenzer, 'Rechtsverfolgungskosten als Schaden?', in: Peter Gauch, Franz Werro & Pascal Pichonnaz (eds.), Mélanges en l’honneur de Pierre Tercier, Zurich: Schulthess (2008), 417–426 [– in German]

Jarno Vanto, 'Attorneys' fees as damages in international commercial litigation', 15 Pace International Law Review (Pace Int'l L. Rev.) (2003), 203–222 [– in English]

Bruno Zeller, 'Attorneys' Fees - Last Ditch Stand?', 58 Villanova Law Review (Vill. L. Rev.) (2013), 761–771 [– in English]

Florian Mohs & Milivoje Mitrovic, 'The Saga Continues: Can Attorneys’ Fees be Recovered as Loss under the CISG?', 24(4) Internationales Handelsrecht (IHR) (2024), 142–147 [– in English]