Does a court have jurisdiction to award attorney fees from a contract for sale where there is no action on the contract?

The court in Lachkar v. Lachkar (1986) 182 Cal.App.3d 641, 227 Cal.Rptr. 501 reached a similar conclusion in the arbitration context. After granting the plaintiffs' petition to compel arbitration of a dispute arising from a contract for sale of a business (without any civil action on the contract having yet been filed), the trial court awarded the plaintiffs their attorney fees expended on the petition to compel under the sale agreement's attorney fee provision.

[2 Cal.5th 976]