Assadian v. Parsi CA4/3
This is a dispute over an award of attorney fees in a rather atypical context. The court determined the contract between the parties, plaintiff Hamid R. Assadian and defendants Reza Parsi, Manatel Communication & Energy, Inc., and Tele-Free Iran (collectively defendants) was illegal and unenforceable because Assadian had been engaged in the unauthorized practice of law while performing the contract. After further proceedings we will discuss below, the court awarded defendants approximately $347,000 in attorney fees. Assadian argues this was error, asserting that an attorney fee award under a contract is improper when the contract has been deemed illegal, and further, the amount awarded was erroneous and unreasonable. We find that this case falls into an exception to the general rule under which illegal contracts are entirely unenforceable, and conclude Assadian’s lack of specific argument in the trial court as to the amount of the fees waives the issue on appeal.
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