The following excerpt is from McGuire v. Russell Miller, Inc., 1 F.3d 1306 (2nd Cir. 1993):
Defendants argue next that the district court erred by refusing to award attorneys' fees simply because defendants did not submit proof at trial of the amount of such fees. McGuire v. Wilson, No. 87 Civ. 8156, at 2, 1992 WL 380497 Defendants argue that the judgment ignores the jury's finding in question 22 that defendants were entitled to recover attorneys' fees. Plaintiff argues that it was defendants' burden to prove all its contractual damages, including attorneys' fees, by the requisite degree of proof at trial, and that the district court found properly that defendants failed to prove at trial the amount of attorneys' fees. Defendants respond that although plaintiff had the right to have a jury decide whether he was liable for attorneys' fees, once the jury decided that plaintiff was liable, the amount and reasonableness of such fees were questions for the judge, not the jury. Defendants argue that it would have been impossible for them to prove the amount of attorneys' fees at trial, because that amount was still accruing.
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