A recent Jurist story, “Supreme Court to Consider Challenge to Attorney’s Fees,” reports that the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari in Marx v. General Revenue Corp. to determine whether a defendant may be awarded attorney’s fees in a Fair Debt Collection Practice Act (FDCPA) [15 USC § 1692] where the plaintiff brought the lawsuit in good faith. 

The FDCPA allows a court to award attorney’s fees “[o]n a finding by the court that [the] action…was brought in bad faith and for the purpose of harassment,” while the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP) allow such an award “[u]nless a federal statute…provides otherwise.”  The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit upheld the fee award, holding it was justified under the FDCPA and the FRCP.  CLICK HERE (pdf) to read the Tenth Circuit ruling.