Opinion ID: 874371
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: We deny Harvey's motion to strike portions of the Reads' brief and award the Reads costs and attorney fees on appeal.

Text: The Reads have requested an award of attorney fees on appeal, but have not directed this Court to a statute or rule authorizing such an award. Harvey has asked this Court to strike portions of the Reads' brief to this Court, which she alleges are disrespectful, invective, and scurrilous. It is true that the tone of the language and argument in the Reads' brief is not consistent with standards of civility and professionalism that we expect of counsel. However, the outrage that is conveyed in the Reads' brief is understandable, because Harvey's conduct in this appeal is sanctionable. Accordingly, we deny Harvey's motion to strike portions of the Reads' brief. Idaho Appellate Rule 11.1 provides in part that: The signature of an attorney or party constitutes a certificate that the attorney or party has read the notice of appeal, petition, motion, brief or other document; that to the best of the signer's knowledge, information, and belief after reasonable inquiry it is well grounded in fact and is warranted by existing law or a good faith argument for the extension, modification, or reversal of existing law, and that it is not interposed for any improper purpose, such as to harass or to cause unnecessary delay or needless increase in the cost of litigation. If the notice of appeal, petition, motion, brief, or other document is signed in violation of this rule, the court, upon motion or upon its own initiative, shall impose upon the person who signed it, a represented party, or both, an appropriate sanction, which may include an order to pay to the other party or parties the amount of the reasonable expenses incurred because of the filing of the notice of appeal, petition, motion, brief or other document including a reasonable attorney's fee. We have previously stated that: [A] violation of this rule requires the signed notice of appeal, petition, motion, brief or other document to (1) not be well grounded in fact (2) not be warranted by existing law or not be a good faith argument for the extension, modification, or reversal of existing law and (3) to be interposed for an improper purpose. Fritts v. Liddle Moeller Const., Inc., 144 Idaho 171, 176, 158 P.3d 947, 952 (2007) (citations omitted). In Fritts, this Court found that where a party failed to supply an adequate record its appeal was not well grounded in fact and thus violated the first element of I.A.R. 11.1. Id. at 176, 158 P.3d at 952. While the record itself in this appeal is more than adequate, Harvey's representation of it is not. Harvey's most persistent, if not persuasive, argument is that channel A is actually the ditch parallel to and west of the creek, which is actually located in channel B. This argument is based on distortion and misrepresentation of the record. Further, certain factual assertions advanced before this Court were not advanced before the trial court. We find a clear purpose for this: the trial court heard the witnesses' testimony and observed their identification of locations on exhibits used during trial. Factual assertions that have been advanced before this Court would have been rejected out-of-hand for lack of supporting evidence. Harvey's appeal cannot be considered warranted by existing law or a good faith argument for a change in the law for the reason that even though she acknowledges that a plaintiff in a quiet title action must succeed on the strength of her own title, she has repeatedly requested this Court to direct the trial court to establish the parties' boundary at the location of channel B, despite having made no cogent argument based upon the record as to why the boundary should be fixed at that location. Based on Harvey's misrepresentation of the record, her raising legal and factual issues for the first time on appeal, and her request for relief without a foundation in law or fact, we conclude that this appeal was brought for the purpose of harassing the Reads, or to cause unnecessary delay, or to needlessly increase the cost of litigation. Accordingly, as the Reads have not identified a basis for an award of fees, on our own initiative, we award the Reads attorney fees pursuant to I.A.R. 11.1, to be paid by Harvey's attorney, Scott Campbell.