Opinion ID: 1163297
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Was Ellen's Motion for Attorney's Fees Timely?

Text: James asserts that Ellen's motion for attorney's fees was untimely since she submitted her motion over two months after the superior court disposed of the underlying custody issue. [1] The superior court explicitly based its award on AS 25.30.070(c). That statute states: In appropriate cases a court dismissing a petition under this section may charge the petitioner with necessary travel and other expenses, including attorney fees, incurred by other parties or their witnesses. The superior court relied on this statute since it referred to AS 25.30.070(b) as the basis for its decision declining jurisdiction. [2] Awards of attorney's fees in custody cases have been considered to be outside the scope of Civil Rule 82. L.L.M. v. P.M., 754 P.2d 262, 264 (Alaska 1988). Nevertheless, James asks this court to rule that the same ten-day time limit which applies to motions for attorney's fees under former Civil Rule 82(c) be applied to motions for attorney's fees based on AS 25.030.070(c). This argument has some merit. Our decision in L.L.M. to exempt awards of attorney's fees in custody cases from the strictures of former Civil Rule 82 was not concerned with the time limitations of that rule. Rather, that decision was focused primarily on the appropriate standard that should be used to assess attorney's fees in custody cases. L.L.M., 754 P.2d at 264. Former Civil Rule 82(c) states in relevant part: A motion is required for an award of attorney's fees under this rule. The motion must be filed within 10 days, after the date shown in the clerk's certificate of distribution on the judgment.... Failure to move for attorney's fees within 10 days or such additional time as the court may allow, shall be construed as a waiver of the party's right to recover attorney's fees. Unlike former Civil Rule 82, AS 25.30.070(c) sets no time limitation for making a motion requesting attorney's fees. In fact, AS 25.30.070 does not seem to require a motion at all, indicating simply that the court may charge the petitioner with appropriate attorney's fees and costs. With respect to specific time limitations, we observe that there is nothing unique to custody cases which would make it more difficult for attorneys to file motions for attorney's fees and costs in a timely manner. Additionally, we note that our reasoning in L.L.M. does not require that parties in custody cases be given more time to file motions for attorney's fees than provided for in former Rule 82. Given the lack of a meaningful distinction pertaining to matters of procedure between attorney's fees awards under AS 25.30.070(c) and awards governed by former Rule 82, we conclude that a party moving for attorney's fees under AS 25.30.070(c) was required to file a motion within ten days following the trial court's final disposition of the controlling custody issue, unless the trial court grants additional time. However, as the law stood at the time that this attorney's fee issue was before the superior court, custody cases could reasonably be construed as exempt from Civil Rule 82(c) by virtue of L.L.M. Since AS 25.30.070(c) made no mention of any applicable procedures at the time that Ellen filed her attorney's fees motion, there was no ascertainable rule regarding the period of time that a party had to move for an award of attorney's fees in custody disputes. Additionally, we note that in her earlier motion for an order requiring James to return the children pursuant to the California court's order, Ellen requested that James be ordered to pay the defendant's costs and attorneys fees in this action.... In its order requiring James to return the children to Ellen, the superior court provided, without stating any explicit time limit, that Ellen may move for costs and attorney's fees in such amount as shall be determined as appropriate by the court. Under these circumstances, we conclude that the superior court did not abuse its discretion by implicitly considering Ellen's motion for attorney's fees to have been timely filed. Further, we note that all motions for attorney's fees, including motions grounded on statutes, made after the July 15, 1996 effective date of the amendment to Civil Rule 82(c), must be made within the ten-day time frame provided for in the current rule. [3]