Can a party be denied attorney's fees on the basis of the opposing party's rejection of an informal oral settlement proposal?

(Winter, C.J., sitting by designation), rev'd on other grounds, 935 F.2d 522 (2d Cir. 1991)); see also Raishevich v. Foster, 247 F.3d 337, 347 (2d Cir. 2001) (holding that a district court abused its discretion by denying fees to a party "on the basis of that party's rejection of the court's [informal oral] settlement proposal, which was also rejected by his adversary"). If a district court were allowed to "rely on informal negotiations and hindsight to determine whether further litigation was warranted and, accordingly, whether attorney's fees should be awarded. . . . , plaintiffs with meritorious claims [could] be improperly dissuaded from pressing forward with their litigation." Ortiz, 980 F.2d at 140-41.⁷