A business – or individual – selling goods and services to others and/or giving credit to others, should consider having a writing (e.g., contract, purchase agreement, invoice) that contains an attorneys fees clause where the writing states something to the effect that:
In the event of a dispute between the parties, the venue of any dispute shall be [your county and state court] and the prevailing party shall be entitled to their costs and attorneys fees.
The law in California is, in sum, unless (i.) there is a writing – agreed to by all the parties to a contract – that provides for attorneys fees if the parties engage in a lawsuit, or (ii.) there is a law that specifies an entitlement to attorneys fees in the event of a dispute, a prevailing party IS NOT entitled to attorneys fees.
If you or your business is domiciled in California, you want California and your county to be the venue if there is a lawsuit between the parties.
Contrary to what other attorneys may advise, you should definitely consider NOT agreeing to an arbitration clause within a contract, particularly if it is the other party that is including an arbitration clause in its contract. Once-upon-a-time, arbitrations were less expensive that court litigation. But, that is not usually the case anymore.
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If you are contemplating signing any contract/agreement, you should have an experienced contract litigation attorney – not just any attorney – review the agreement first. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
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