Opinion ID: 1360563
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 30

Heading: public interest litigant

Text: 1. Whether the appellant is entitled to the status of a public interest litigant, resulting in no award of attorney's fees to the appellees. It is an abuse of discretion to award attorney's fees against an unsuccessful public interest plaintiff who raises a claim in good faith. Girves v. Kenai Peninsula Borough, 536 P.2d 1221, 1227 (Alaska 1975); Hunsicker v. Thompson, 717 P.2d 358, 359 (Alaska 1986); Anchorage Daily News v. Anchorage Sch. Dist., 803 P.2d 402, 404 (Alaska 1990). However, where private stakes are high, a lawsuit may not be in the genuine public interest. Hunsicker v. Thompson, 717 P.2d at 359, n. 2 (citing Gold Bondholders Protective Council v. Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, 658 P.2d 776 (Alaska 1983)). A public interest litigant is a party who satisfies the following criteria: (1) Is the case designed to effectuate strong public policies? (2) If the plaintiff succeeds will numerous people receive benefits from the lawsuit? (3) Can only a private party have been expected to bring this suit? (4) Would the purported public interest litigant have sufficient economic incentive to file suit even if the action involved only narrow issues lacking general importance? Loeb v. Rasmussen, 822 P.2d 914, 921 n. 18 (Alaska 1991); Keane v. Local Boundary Comm'n, 893 P.2d 1239 (Alaska 1995). The litigation in this case appears to have been initiated based on the commercial real estate interests of CG. CG appeared before DNR in opposition to DNR and ACS's proposal to lease purchase the Anchorage Times building. If CG had succeeded in this litigation, the primary beneficiary would have been CG, and CG may have been able to offer ACS a new lease agreement on the building ACS had been leasing from CG. It is true, as CG argues, that litigation of novel questions of constitutional law may benefit a broad range of people and interests. Girves, 536 P.2d at 1227. However, that proposition is true for each incremental advancement of the stare decisis process. In this case, CG had a significant financial incentive to initiate litigation both before DNR and in this court. See generally Murphy v. City of Wrangell, 763 P.2d 229 (Alaska 1988). But compare Keane, 893 P.2d at 1250-51. Even though ACS let the lease of CG's property expire and began vacating the premises, CG may have had an opportunity to attract ACS again as a tenant if the appellees had not prevailed. At the origin of this lawsuit before DNR, CG had potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars at stake. The court finds that CG had a significant financial interest in this litigation, and denies the appellant public interest litigant status.