Opinion ID: 1211428
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: bad faith assertion of a contribution claim

Text: Crowley and Northland argue that, even if a settling contribution defendant is not entitled to attorney's fees as a matter of course, bad faith assertion of a contribution claim justifies a fee award. FAL contends that there can be no finding of bad faith in the instant case because there was no trial on the merits. The superior court did not find that FAL asserted its claim in bad faith, but awarded full attorney's fees to Northland and Crowley because FAL's opposition to the cost motions was untimely and unresponsive. When a plaintiff sues in good faith, a full fee award is manifestly unreasonable and constitutes an abuse of discretion, but vexatious conduct or assertion of a bad faith claim may justify a full fee award. Wickwire v. McFadden, 633 P.2d 278, 281 n. 6 (Alaska 1981); Davis v. Hallett, 587 P.2d 1170, 1171-72 (Alaska 1978); Malvo v. J.C. Penney Co., 512 P.2d 575, 588 (Alaska 1973). In the instant case, we conclude that the Crowley and Northland settlements preclude a finding of bad faith as a matter of law. Allowing a settling contribution defendant to inject the issue of bad faith would defeat the policy of ensuring finality and reducing uncertainty. Vertecs, 669 P.2d at 960-61. Furthermore, as we noted above, settlement is equivalent to a concession of potential liability and the validity of the contribution claim. In order to be entitled to full attorney's fees, a party must be the prevailing party and the non-prevailing party must have acted in bad faith. Since a settling defendant is not a prevailing party as a matter of law, that defendant cannot obtain an award of attorney's fees even if the contribution claimant acted in bad faith. We therefore rule that a settling contribution defendant may not recover its costs and attorney's fees on the theory that the contribution claim was asserted in bad faith.