Therefore, we do not address it. Finally, the town, in its cross-appeal, argues that the lower court erred in refusing to grant attorney's fees. While the general rule is "that each party to a lawsuit is responsible for payment" of its own attorney's fees, Adams v. Bradshaw, 135 N.H. 7, 16, 599 A.2d 481, 487 (1991), cert. denied, 503 U.S. 960 (1992), a court has the power to grant fees where there is "statutory authorization, an agreement between the parties, or an established exception." Flanagan v. Prudhomme, 138 N.H. 561, 576, 644 A.2d 51, 62 (1994).

Silva, 121 N.H. at 1043, 437 A.2d at 314 (quotation omitted). We give "tremendous deference" to a superior court decision on attorney's fees, Adams v. Bradshaw, 135 N.H. 7, 16, 599 A.2d 481, 487 (1991), cert. denied, 112 S.Ct. 1560 (1992), because "[w]hen overriding considerations so indicate, the award of fees lies within the power of the court, and is an appropriate tool in the court's arsenal to do justice and vindicate rights." Silva, 121 N.H. at 1043, 437 A.2d at 315 (quotation omitted).

[5, 6] A plaintiff's motive in bringing an action, however, does not determine whether an action is frivolous. In the context of awarding attorney's fees, we have described bad faith, or frivolous, litigation as actions in which parties are "forced to litigate in order to enjoy what a court has already decreed," Adams v. Bradshaw, 135 N.H. 7, 17, 599 A.2d 481, 488 (1991), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 112 S.Ct. 1560 (1992) (quotation omitted), and actions lacking "any reasonable basis in the facts provable by evidence, or any reasonable claim in the law as it is, or as it might arguably be held to be." Id.

The general rule in New Hampshire is that attorney's fees do not automatically flow in favor of a prevailing civil litigant. See Adams v. Bradshaw, 135 N.H. 7, 16, 599 A.2d 481, 487 (1991), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 112 S. Ct. 1560 (1992) (each party to a lawsuit generally responsible for payment of his or her own lawyer's bill). Rather, fees may be awarded only by virtue of "statutory authorization, an agreement between the parties, or an established exception."

Because matters such as public fixtures and zoning ordinances are legislative prerogatives, a person acquires minimal private rights in them. See, e.g., Adams v. Bradshaw, 135 N.H. 7, 14, 599 A.2d 481, 486 (1991) ("a property owner has no vested right in a sewer connection" and at most acquires a license), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 112 S.Ct. 1560 (1992); Vachon Son, Inc. v. Concord, 112 N.H. 107, 109-10, 289 A.2d 646, 648 (1972) (no vested rights in a zoning classification); Glick v. Town of Ossipee, 130 N.H. at 646, 547 A.2d at 233 (town road may be discontinued by a vote of the town). Consequently, estoppel would not normally be available to the plaintiffs here, see Arsenault v. Town of Keene, 104 N.H. 356, 187 A.2d 60 (1962) (no rights created by use which was illegally established); Parkview Associates v. City of New York, 71 N.Y.2d 274, 279, 519 N.E.2d 1372, 1373, 525 N.Y.S.2d 176, 176 ("estoppel is not available to preclude a governmental entity from discharging its statutory duties or to compel ratification of prior erroneous implementation in the issuance of an invalid building permit"), cert. denied and appeal dismissed, 488 U.S. 801 (1988), especially where the lack of estoppel w

Absent bad faith on the part of the adverse party, we see no basis under New Hampshire law for an award of attorney's fees to the successful litigant in a legal malpractice action. See Adams v. Bradshaw, 135 N.H. 7, 599 A.2d 481, 487-88 (1991) (listing "bad faith" exceptions to American rule), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 112 S.Ct. 1560, 118 L.Ed.2d 208 (1992). Banker does not demonstrate any inclination on the part of the Supreme Court of New Hampshire to augment in that way the remedies available under state law.

I have found Orics' position to be insufficiently supported, unpersuasive, and without merit, but I cannot find, on this record, that it was frivolous or patently unreasonable, in that it "lacked any reasonable basis in the facts provable by evidence . . . in the law as it is, or as it might arguably be held to be." Guaraldi, 136 N.H. at 463 (quoting Adams v. Bradshaw, 135 N.H. 7, 18 (1991)). See also Daigle, 137 N.H. at 575.

The New Hampshire Supreme Court has consistently stated that "the general rule in this State is that each party to a lawsuit is responsible for payment of his or her own lawyer's bill." Adams v. Bradshaw, 135 N.H. 7, 16 (1991) (citation omitted). "An award of attorney's fees is the exception rather than the rule and requires `statutory authorization, an agreement between the parties, or an established exception.'"

In the absence of a vested property right no taking for purposes of Part I, Article 12 of the State Constitution has occurred. See Adams v. Bradshaw, 135 N.H. 7, 14 (1991), cert. denied, 503 U.S. 960 (1992). "[T]o be vested, a right must be more than a mere expectation based on an anticipation of the continuance of existing law, it must have become a title, legal or equitable, to the present or future enforcement of a demand, or a legal exemption from the demand of another."

In the absence of a vested property right, no taking for purposes of Part I, Article 12 of the State Constitution has occurred. See Adams v. Bradshaw, 135 N.H. 7, 14, 599 A.2d 481 (1991), cert. denied, 503 U.S. 960 (1992). Accordingly, because the policyholders lack vested rights, the Act does not operate as a “taking” for the purposes of Part I, Article 12.