Case Title: Hamilton v. Town of Greybull

Citation: 

Docket Number: 96-318

State: wyoming

Court: Wyoming Supreme Court

Date: 1997-08-06T00:00:00Z

Document:
Hamilton v. Town of Greybull1997 WY 99942 P.2d 410Case Number: 96-318Decided: 08/06/1997Supreme Court of Wyoming

F.L. 
HAMILTON, individually and as elected Mayor of the Town of Greybull,

Appellant (Plaintiff),

v.

TOWN OF GREYBULL, Appellee (Defendant).
                
                 

  

Appeal from District Court of Big Horn County, 
Leonard E. McEwan, J.

  

 

    Phillip T. Willoughby, 
Casper, for Appellant. 

    Kathleen A. Hunt of Smith, 
Stanfield and Scott, LLC, Laramie, for Appellee.

 

    Before TAYLOR, C.J., and 
THOMAS, MACY, GOLDEN and LEHMAN, JJ.

 

    MACY, 
Justice. 

[¶1]          Appellant F.L. Hamilton 
appeals from the judgment in favor of Appellee Town of Greybull which dismissed 
his complaint for a declaratory judgment and ordered the parties to pay their 
own attorney's fees.

 

[¶2]          We 
affirm.

 

                                
ISSUE

 

[¶3]          Hamilton presents a single 
issue for our review:

 

      1. Did the 
District Court err in denying plaintiff/appellant an award or reimbursement of 
attorney's fees?

 

                                
FACTS

 

[¶4]          Hamilton, who was the mayor 
of Greybull,1 brought this declaratory judgment 
action in November of 1995. He alleged that Charter Ordinance No. 642, which 
revoked his authority to appoint and remove officers, was unconstitutional or 
contrary to state law. Hamilton subsequently filed a motion for a summary 
judgment, asserting that no genuine issues of material fact existed and that, as 
a matter of law, the charter should be declared unconstitutional or contrary to 
state law. Hamilton also requested that he be awarded his attorney's fees which 
were associated with bringing the lawsuit. The district court denied Hamilton's 
motion for a summary judgment, ruled in favor of the Town of Greybull on 
Hamilton's complaint for a declaratory judgment, and ordered the parties to pay 
their own attorney's fees. Hamilton appeals from the denial of his request for 
attorney's fees.

 

                             
DISCUSSION

 

[¶5]          We have previously addressed 
the issue of when a party will be allowed to recover his attorney's 
fees:

 

Wyoming follows the American rule that each party is 
normally responsible for his or her own attorney fees. There are two exceptions 
to this rule: when there is an express statutory authorization or a contractual 
provision that allows for an award of attorney fees to a party. We have denied 
attorney fees where neither 
exception is applicable.

 

Snodgrass v. Rissler & 
McMurry Company, 903 P.2d 1015, 1017 (Wyo. 1995) (citations omitted). See also 
McLain v. Anderson, 933 P.2d 468, 472 (Wyo. 1997).

 

[¶6]          Hamilton concedes that, in 
general, a party is not entitled to recover his attorney's fees unless the 
recovery is specifically sanctioned by statute or contract. He explains briefly 
that courts will occasionally apply exceptions other than the statutory and 
contractual exceptions which are provided in the rule to allow the recovery of 
attorney's fees. Unfortunately, however, he does not describe how this case 
should fall within any of those exceptions.

 

 [¶7]        We have consistently adhered to 
the American rule with regard to awards of attorney's fees, and we do not see 
any reason why we should depart from our general rule in this case. Since 
neither a statute nor a contract provides for an award of attorney's fees, the 
district court properly denied Hamilton's request.

 

[¶8]          Affirmed.  

 

FOOTNOTES

1 
Hamilton lost his bid for reelection in November of 1996.