Opinion ID: 2612491
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: attorney fees awarded by the trial court.

Text: Transamerica asserts that attorney fees should not have been awarded by the trial court, since the jury had already awarded attorney fees as part of the punitive damages and since the Garnetts' attorney did not provide sufficient documentation to support the award. We disagree. In awarding attorney fees to the Garnetts, the trial court noted that the relationship of attorney fees to punitive damages has had a tortured history in this state. The trial court concluded that the more recent cases make it uncertain whether attorney fees must be included in punitive damages, but make it clear that attorney fees and other costs of litigation may be included. The jury was not instructed to include attorney fees in the award of punitive damages in this case. The trial court ruled that the $100,000.00 award of punitive damages was not disproportionate to the $133,458.00 award of compensatory damages, and therefore concluded that the award of punitive damages did not include attorney fees. The trial court awarded attorney fees under both I.C. § 41-1839(1) and I.R.C.P. 54(e). Today, we hold that in a case involving a claim against an insurance company for failure to pay an amount due under a policy, attorney fees may be awarded under I.C. § 41-1839(1), unless the jury has been specifically instructed to include attorney fees in any award of punitive damages or unless the trial court concludes that the award of punitive damages was so disproportionate that it included attorney fees. As to the documentation of the amount of attorney fees awarded, the trial court had a memorandum of costs submitted by the Garnetts' attorney that included the number of hours expended by the attorney and an associate and the hourly rate used to calculate the total fee. While there was evidence offered by Transamerica that the hourly rate for the Garnetts' attorney exceeded the usual rate in the local area, the trial court considered the factors listed in I.R.C.P. 54(e)(3), especially the expertise of the attorney in prosecuting claims against insurance companies. The trial court was within its discretion in the award of attorney fees.