Title
Que Lastima Zapata! Bad CISG Ruling on Attorneys’ Fees Still Haunts U.S. Courts
Abstract
The case of Zapata Hermanos Sucesores, S.A. v. Hearthside Baking Co. has sparked a healthy international debate with regard to whether remedies for breach of contract under the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG) include attorneys’ fees. There the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals refused to award attorneys’ fees because, inter alia, such fees are part of domestic procedural law, not substantive treaty law. Zapata has been widely criticized for its lack of authority and incorrect analysis of the CISG text. This opinion, nevertheless, has become precedent in the Seventh Circuit, forcing lower courts to follow suit. This paper reviews the framework of international treaty interpretation and CISG’s internal rules of interpretation. From this perspective it discusses why the Seventh Circuit incorrectly interpreted the CISG text and seemingly ignored the international rules of treaty interpretation. It also addresses how the ruling is negatively affecting other U.S. courts and suggests appropriate alternative approaches domestic judges could take to interpret the convention.
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