Opinion ID: 1191917
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: neither party is entitled to an award of attorney fees on appeal.

Text: Both parties request an award of attorney fees on appeal pursuant to I.C. § 12-120(3). Section 12-120(3) provides for an award of attorney fees to the prevailing party in a civil action to recover in any commercial transaction. Section 12-120(3) defines commercial transaction to mean all transactions except transactions for personal or household purposes. General initiated the underlying action to recover on an alleged contract whereby the parties agreed that General would have the exclusive right to be the only seller of NAPA auto parts in Boise. Consequently, the underlying action involves a commercial transaction contemplated in § 12-120(3). General argues that because GPC's defense has consistently been that there was no contract for an exclusive right entered into between the parties, that GPC cannot rely on § 12-120(3) as support for an award of attorney fees on appeal. This Court has recognized that where an action is one to recover in a commercial transaction, that claim triggers the application of § 12-120(3) and the prevailing party may recover fees regardless of the proof that the commercial transaction alleged did, in fact, occur. Magic Lantern Prod., Inc. v. Dolsot, 126 Idaho 805, 808, 892 P.2d 480, 483 (1995). See also Atwood v. Western Constr., Inc. v. Dolsot, 129 Idaho 234, 240, 923 P.2d 479, 485 (Ct.App.1996) (If a contract claim is of a type embraced within [I.C. § 12-120(3)], the proponent's failure to prove the existence of the alleged contract does not insulate that party from liability to pay the prevailing party's attorney fees.) Thus, because the underlying action was an action to recover in a commercial transaction, § 12-120(3) is triggered and the prevailing party on appeal is entitled to an award of attorney fees. See Bott v. Idaho State Bldg. Auth., 122 Idaho 471, 481, 835 P.2d 1282, 1292 (1992) (an award of attorney fees to the prevailing party is appropriate under § 12-120(3) on appeal as well as at trial). Because neither party prevailed on the issues they respectively raised on appeal, neither party is entitled to an award of attorney fees under § 12-120(3). See Jeremiah v. Yanke Mach. Shop, Inc., 131 Idaho 242, 249, 953 P.2d 992, 999 (1998); Powell v. Sellers, 130 Idaho 122, 130, 937 P.2d 434, 442 (Ct. App.1997); Baker v. Boren, 129 Idaho 885, 897, 934 P.2d 951, 963 (Ct.App.1997).