Pursuant to Arizona statute and case law the court will evaluate attorneys’ fees under the following factors:

1.           Merits of the claim or defense presented by the unsuccessful party;

2.           Whether the litigation could have been avoided or settled and whether the successful parties’ efforts were completely superfluous in achieving the results;

3.           Whether assessing fees against the unsuccessful party would cause an extreme hardship;

4.           Whether the successful party prevailed on all the requested relief;

5.           Whether the case involved novel legal questions; and

6.           Whether the award would discourage other parties with tenable claims or defensives from litigating or defending legitimate contract issues for fear of incurring liability for substantial attorneys’ fees.

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