Short answer. Sometimes, but not as a matter of course. Absent a stipulation, attorney's fees and expenses of litigation cannot be recovered except in the eleven situations the article lists, and whatever is awarded must be reasonable. Simply being in the right, and winning, is not one of the exceptions.

What the law says

In the absence of stipulation, attorney's fees and expenses of litigation, other than judicial costs, cannot be recovered, except: (1) When exemplary damages are awarded;

Civil Code, Article 2208 — When Attorney's Fees Are Recoverable. Read the full provision →

What the law says

(5) Where the defendant acted in gross and evident bad faith in refusing to satisfy the plaintiff's plainly valid, just and demandable claim; (6) In actions for legal support; (7) In actions for the recovery of wages of household helpers, laborers and skilled workers;

Civil Code, Article 2208 — When Attorney's Fees Are Recoverable. Read the full provision →

The rule is no recovery; the list is the exception

Start where the article starts: in the absence of stipulation, attorney's fees and expenses of litigation, other than judicial costs, cannot be recovered, except: (1) When exemplary damages are awarded;. Two things follow immediately. A stipulation — a clause in the contract saying the defaulting party bears the cost of enforcement — takes you out of the article altogether, which is why that clause is worth insisting on when the document is being drafted. And without one, the fees are not recoverable unless the case fits an exception the Code has already written down.

The exceptions people actually rely on

Several of the eleven are everyday situations: (5) Where the defendant acted in gross and evident bad faith in refusing to satisfy the plaintiff's plainly valid, just and demandable claim; (6) In actions for legal support; (7) In actions for the recovery of wages of household helpers, laborers and skilled workers;. Others cover being compelled to litigate with third persons to protect your interest, a clearly unfounded action brought against you, malicious prosecution, and a separate civil action to recover civil liability arising from a crime. Notice how many are about the other side's conduct rather than about the merits.

Bad faith has to be gross and evident

Exception (5) is the one most claimants reach for, and it is more demanding than it looks. It is not enough that the defendant refused to pay or that the refusal turned out to be wrong. The refusal must be in gross and evident bad faith, and the claim refused must be plainly valid, just and demandable. A debtor with a genuine dispute about the amount is not automatically in bad faith. What builds this exception is the paper trail of the refusal — the demand, the answer given at the time, and any admission that the claim was in fact owed.

The catch-all, and the ceiling

The list closes with a provision for any other case where the court deems it just and equitable that fees and expenses be recovered, and then with a limit that applies throughout: in all cases, the attorney's fees and expenses of litigation must be reasonable. So an award tracks what the court considers reasonable rather than whatever you agreed to pay your own lawyer. Keep the engagement terms, the billings and the demand correspondence, and raise fees as part of the claim from the outset rather than as an afterthought.

Cases citing this provision

These Supreme Court decisions cite the provision above. We list them so you can read them yourself; the summaries of what each decided are not ours to give.

Related provisions

Note. Statute text quoted on this page is reproduced from the official enactment and is linked to the full provision. The explanation around it is general legal information from Vivas & Nobles Law Office, not legal advice. Whether it applies to your situation depends on facts only a lawyer reviewing them can assess.