§ 696.4.Costs and Attorney Fees

A judgment doesn't have to wait on costs and attorney fees to get filed — Section 696.4(A) lets the court decide those items later, on a timely request, whether or not a petition in error is already pending. If fees or costs weren't built into the judgment itself, the party wanting them has to file an application with the clerk, serve it on the other parties, and spell out the amount and the basis for it. That application is due within thirty days after the judgment's filed, or, if a posttrial motion was filed within ten days of the judgment, within thirty days after the court rules on that motion. Miss a mailing the rules required, and the deadline slides to thirty days after the record shows the mailing happened; the court can also extend the deadline for good cause on a timely motion. Once filed, other parties get fifteen days to object.

Fees for work done on appeal follow a different track. Except in one situation, the request goes to the appellate court itself by separate motion before mandate issues, arguing only the legal basis for an award — no evidence about the amount. If the appellate court awards fees, it sends the case back to the trial court to set the amount, and that amount-setting order is itself appealable. The exception: if whether a party qualifies as the prevailing party can't be told from the appellate decision, the fee application goes to the trial court instead, on the same schedule as any other post-judgment fee request.