§ 6.2.1 INTRODUCTION

• Jurisdiction: Arizona

§ 6.2.1 Introduction

"Under the common fund doctrine a court may award attorneys' fees to counsel for the prevailing side whose efforts in litigation create or preserve a common fund from which others who have undertaken no risk or cost will nevertheless benefit." Fields v. Elected Officials Retirement Fund, 234 Ariz. 214, 222 ¶ 41, 320 P.3d 1160, 1168 (2014) (quoting Kerr v. Killian,197 Ariz. 213, 217-18 ¶ 19, 3 P.3d 1133, 1137-38 (App. 2000). "Because application of the common fund doctrine is capable of great abuse, it is exercised only in exceptional circumstances and for dominating reasons of justice." Id. (quoting in part Kerr, 197 Ariz. at 219-20 ¶ 27, 3 P.3d at 1139-40).

The common fund doctrine "is an equitable exception to the general rule that, in the absence of statute or contract, each side in a litigated case must bear its own attorneys' fees." Burke v. Arizona State Retirement Sys., 206 Ariz. 269, 272 ¶ 7, 77 P.3d 444, 447 (App. 2003) (internal quotation marks...