Turner

Plaintiff Joe D. Turner appeals an award of attorney fees to defendants Asset Allocation Advisors, Inc. (the company), Gregory E. Schultz, and Bruce D. Grenke (collectively defendants) made after Turner unsuccessfully sought declaratory and injunctive relief to forestall the arbitration of the dispute between the parties. He contends that it is too early to determine a prevailing party, and that any award should be made by the arbitrator rather than the court. We conclude attorney fees were properly awarded in this discrete legal action.

I. BACKGROUND

This is the third time we have considered an appeal in this case. (Turner v. American Arbitration Assn. (Oct. 24, 2007, No. A112884) [nonpub. opn.] (Turner I); Turner v. American Arbitration Assn. (Oct. 24, 2007, No. All3905) [nonpub. opn.] (Turner II).) We quote at length from our discussion of the facts in Turner I:

Turner, a shareholder in the company, entered into a “Buy/Sell Agreement II” (the agreement) in 2003 with Schultz and Grenke, two other shareholders in the company. The agreement provided a formula for buying out the shares of a shareholder who was terminated as an employee of the company. The agreement also…