Damages; Attorney’s fees; when proper. An award of attorney’s fees has always been the exception rather than the rule and there must be some compelling legal reason to bring the case within the exception and justify the award. In this case, none of the exceptions applies. “Attorney’s fees are not awarded every time a party prevails in a suit. The policy of the Court is that no premium should be placed on the right to litigate.” “Even when a claimant is compelled to litigate with third persons or to incur expenses to protect his rights, still, attorney’s fees may not be awarded where no sufficient showing of bad faith could be reflected in a party’s persistence in a case other than an erroneous conviction of the righteousness of his cause.” Damages; moral damages. Certainly, an award of moral damages must be anchored on a clear showing that the party claiming the same actually experienced mental anguish, besmirched reputation, sleepless nights, wounded feelings, or similar injury. In the case herein under consideration, the records are bereft of any proof that respondent in fact suffered moral damages as contemplated in the afore-quoted provision of the Civil Code. The ruling of the trial court provides simply that: “[Petitioner’s] outright denial and unjust refusal to heed [respondent’s] claim for payment of the value of her lost/damaged shipment caus[ed] the latter to suffer serious anxiety, mental anguish and wounded feelings warranting the award of moral damages x x x.” The testimony of respondent, on the other hand, merely states that when she failed to recover damages from petitioner, she “was saddened, had sleepless nights and anxiety” without providing specific details of the suffering she allegedly went through. “Since an award of moral damages is predicated on a categorical showing by the claimant that she actually experienced emotional and mental sufferings, it must be disallowed absent any evidence thereon.” Damages; Temperate damages. In the absence of competent proof on the amount of actual damages suffered, a party is entitled to receive temperate damages. Article 2224 of the New Civil Code provides that:“Temperate or moderate damages, which are more than nominal but less than compensatory damages, may be recovered when the court finds that some pecuniary loss has been suffered but its amount cannot, from the nature of the case, be proved with certainty.” The
Damages; Attorneys fees; when proper. An award of attorneys fees
has always been the exception rather than the rule and there must
be some compelling legal reason to bring the case within the
exception and justify the award. In this case, none of the
exceptions applies. Attorneys fees are not awarded every time a
party prevails in a suit. The policy of the Court is that no
premium should be placed on the right to litigate.Even when a
claimant is compelled to litigate with third persons or to incur
expenses to protect his rights, still, attorneys fees may not be
awarded where no sufficient showing of bad faith could be reflected
in a partys persistence in a case other than an erroneous
conviction of the righteousness of his cause.Damages; moral
damages. Certainly, an award of moral damages must be anchored on a
clear showing that the party claiming the same actually experienced
mental anguish, besmirched reputation, sleepless nights, wounded
feelings, or similar injury. In the case herein under
consideration, the records are bereft of any proof that respondent
in fact suffered moral damages as contemplated in the afore-quoted
provision of the Civil Code. The ruling of the trial court provides
simply that: [Petitioners] outright denial and unjust refusal to
heed [respondents] claim for payment of the value of her
lost/damaged shipment caus[ed] the latter to suffer serious
anxiety, mental anguish and wounded feelings warranting the award
of moral damages x x x. The testimony of respondent, on the other
hand, merely states that when she failed to recover damages from
petitioner, she was saddened, had sleepless nights and anxiety
without providing specific details of the suffering she allegedly
went through. Since an award of moral damages is predicated on a
categorical showing by the claimant that she actually experienced
emotional and mental sufferings, it must be disallowed absent any
evidence thereon. Damages; Temperate damages. In the absence of
competent proof on the amount of actual damages suffered, a party
is entitled to receive temperate damages. Article 2224 of the New
Civil Code provides that:Temperate or moderate damages, which are
more than nominal but less than compensatory damages, may be
recovered when the court finds that some pecuniary loss has been
suffered but its amount cannot, from the nature of the case, be
proved with certainty.The amount thereof is usually left to the
sound discretion of the courts but the same should be reasonable,
bearing in mind that temperate damages should be more than nominal
but less than compensatory.
