Opinion ID: 2633244
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: District Court Award of Attorney Fees

Text: The decision to award attorney fees rests in the discretion of the trial court, and the burden is on the party disputing the trial court's determination to show an abuse of discretion. Brown v. Miller, 140 Idaho 439, 445, 95 P.3d 57, 63 (2004). I.C. § 12-121 allows a court to award attorney fees to the prevailing party when the court is left with the abiding belief that the appeal was brought, pursued or defended frivolously, unreasonably or without foundation. Minich v. Gem State Developers, Inc., 99 Idaho 911, 918, 591 P.2d 1078, 1085 (1979). The determination of who is the prevailing party for purposes of an award of attorney fees is within the trial court's discretion. Farm Credit Bank of Spokane v. Wissel, 122 Idaho 565, 568, 836 P.2d 511, 514 (1992). I.R.C.P. 54(d)(1)(B) provides that when a district court determines a party partially prevailed, the district court may apportion the costs between and among the parties in a fair and equitable manner after considering all of the issues and claims involved in the action and the resultant judgment or judgments obtained. The Prescriptive Easement and Pothier cases were combined for all purposes. Nevertheless, the district court awarded Fisher attorney fees related only to the Prescriptive Easement case. Early in the proceedings, on October 17, 2001, the district court dismissed Fisher's counterclaim for monetary damages in the Prescriptive Easement case. From that point forward, the case proceeded only on Hughes' argument that they were entitled to a prescriptive easement. The district court's decisions denied any recovery to Hughes on their claims, so Fisher was clearly the prevailing party. The award of fees to Fisher was based on the district court's determination that Hughes pursued their prescriptive easement claim frivolously because they should have known upon completion of their depositions that none of them committed any act which would have imparted notice to Fisher that their use of the Path was different from that of the general public. The district court therefore awarded attorney fees for services rendered after plaintiffs' depositions were completed, which took place after the dismissal of Fisher's counterclaim. The district court did not, however, subtract attorney fees related to settlement negotiations between Fisher and Hughes. Because we affirm the district court's determination that the Hughes' case was frivolous, we conclude the district court did not err in awarding attorney fees related to settlement negotiations. To hold otherwise would reward Hughes for pursuing a frivolous claim and punish Fisher for attempting to settle a frivolous claim brought against it. Consequently, we affirm the district court's award of attorney fees, including those fees incurred during negotiations to settle this frivolous suit.