Roberts wrote a nine-page opinion that said Franklin Resources Inc. and another company don't have to pay the legal fees two New Mexico consumers incurred in a pre-trial skirmish over the proper forum for their lawsuit.

The court nonetheless refused to impose sharp limits on fees urged by the Bush administration, reading a federal statute as placing ''no heavy thumb on either side of the scales.''

The dispute concerned a law that lets defendants shift lawsuits from state to federal court in some circumstances. Businesses often use that approach in the hope of getting a more favorable hearing before a federal judge and jury.

The issue for Roberts and the court was whether legal fees generally should go to plaintiffs who successfully argue against a bid to move a case into federal court. Roberts said fees should be awarded only when a litigant ''lacked an objectively reasonable basis'' for arguing in favor of a federal forum.

The decision upheld a lower court ruling favoring Franklin and Century-National Insurance Co. The two companies are fighting a class-action lawsuit filed by Gerald and Juana Martin over auto loans and insurance.

The Bush administration had urged the court to allow fees only when the bid to shift is ''frivolous, unreasonable or without foundation.'' Roberts rejected that argument.