Collection Actions: 6.5.2 Requirement That Contractual Fees Be Reasonable in Amount
If there is no statutory guidance, some courts, taking a rigid freedom of contract approach, enforce attorney fee clauses that set a particular amount or formula for fees without regard to the reasonableness of the fees.196 However, some of these courts, though enforcing the clause in the particular case, qualify their opinions by indicating that a different result may be reached if there is proof that the clause is oppressive, unconscionable, or so disproportionate to foreseeable expenses as to be penal (violating the general contract law