Petitions for antiharassment orders are increasingly common. Neither side is required to have a lawyer at the hearing, but having one is a good idea if you can afford it. That leads to a question we hear often: if you prevail, can the court make the other side pay your attorney's fees?
Like most legal questions, the answer is maybe.
A note on timing: this article was written in 2020 and describes the statute that governed antiharassment orders at that time. Washington has since reorganized its civil protection order laws, so the chapter and section numbers below may no longer be the current ones. An attorney should confirm the law that applies to your case today.
First, there has to be a legal basis
In any kind of case, a court can order one side to pay the other side's attorney's fees only if there is a legal basis for it. That basis usually comes from one of two places: the terms of a contract that is in dispute, or a law that applies to that type of case.
At the time of this article, the law governing antiharassment orders was chapter 10.14 RCW. That statute created antiharassment orders and set out the process the parties and the courts follow. Two terms matter here:
- The petitioner is the person asking for the antiharassment order. They want protection from someone.
- The respondent is the person the order is sought against. They are alleged to have unlawfully harassed the petitioner.
If you are the petitioner
RCW 10.14.090 stated that the court may require a respondent to pay the petitioner's costs of seeking the antiharassment order, including attorney's fees.
In practical terms, if you are the petitioner, you can ask the court to order the respondent to reimburse what you spent hiring a lawyer for your petition. That does not mean the court has to grant the request. It means the judge has a legal basis to award fees if he or she chooses to.
If you are the respondent
Chapter 10.14 RCW said nothing about a respondent's attorney's fees. That can seem unfair. The public policy behind it is that the legislature did not want the fear of a fee judgment to discourage people who genuinely need protection from asking for it. As a result, a respondent generally had no basis under chapter 10.14 RCW to ask the court to make the petitioner pay the respondent's fees.
There is an important exception. If the petitioner made misrepresentations to the court, or if it is shown that the petitioner sought the order to harass the respondent or simply to force the respondent to hire a lawyer, the court can award the respondent attorney's fees under a court rule.
In those circumstances, a respondent can bring a motion under CRLJ 11 (in district court) or CR 11 (in superior court). These rules give the court authority to sanction a party who has violated them, and a sanction can include an order to pay the other side's attorney's fees. The rules apply even when the petitioner is not represented by a lawyer.
Whether such a motion is appropriate depends on the facts and on what can be shown to the court. It is worth discussing with an attorney before the hearing, not after.
Summary
- Petitioners had a statutory basis to ask for their fees, and the judge could choose whether to award them.
- Respondents had no statutory basis, but could seek fees as a sanction under CRLJ 11 or CR 11 when a petition was based on misrepresentations or brought for an improper purpose.
- In either case, the decision rests with the judge, and the current statutes should be confirmed with an attorney.
Talk to an attorney about your hearing
Whether you are seeking an antiharassment order or have been served with a temporary order and need to respond, the attorneys at Kitsap Law Group can explain how the process works, what the court can and cannot order, and what to expect at the hearing. Learn more about our litigation practice or request a consultation.
