Architect's Fee Dispute and Standard of Proof for Lump-Sum Agreement

The court dismissed an architect's claim for payment of a fixed fee for preliminary studies because the claimant failed to meet the requisite burden of proof regarding the existence of a lump-sum fee agreement, which the court affirmed must be proven according to the standard measure of full conviction under Article 8 of the Civil Code. The court reasoned that while exceptions to this strict standard exist for situations of inherent evidentiary difficulty, the agreement on a fee structure, even if oral, is not inherently difficult to prove, and mere practical difficulties in obtaining evidence do not justify lowering the required standard of proof to mere probability.