Opinion ID: 1441566
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: The Trial Court Correctly Rejected Breck's Proposed Cost and Supersedeas Bond

Text: The parties vigorously contest Breck's innovative cost and supersedeas bond strategies. Breck attempted to support his motion for a stay of execution of judgment with a supersedeas bond, listing himself as the principal and his professional corporation as the surety. The trial court rejected this bond, instead requiring a surety completely independent of defendant Breck. Breck then attempted to collateralize the bond with a deed to Anchorage land, which he valued at the tax assessment rate. The trial court rejected the collateral and noted that the amount was $1,000 short. Breck sent a check for $1,000, which was apparently intended to make up the deficit in his supersedeas bond. The clerk treated the check as a cost bond submitted to avoid dismissal of Breck's appeal. The trial court has never approved a supersedeas bond and no stay of the judgment against Breck has been entered. We conclude that the trial court acted properly. [12] Breck frequently makes the compound allegation that the trial court erred (or abused its discretion), as a matter of law on the supersedeas bond issues. The Moores interpret this to mean that Breck is asserting an abuse-of-discretion standard of review. They contend that this court should instead independently review the rejection of Breck's bonds. In fact, the two actions by the trial court are reviewed under two different standards of review. The trial court's determination that an attorney's professional corporation may not act as surety for the attorney's personal appeal involves an interpretation of the Rules of Civil Procedure. We independently review this decision. Ford v. Municipality of Anchorage, 813 P.2d 654, 655 n. 2 (Alaska 1991). The trial court correctly concluded that a professional corporation is not sufficiently independent from the professional to act as a surety. In addition, we note that under Civil Rule 80(b)(1), [n]o attorney at law ... is qualified to be a surety. We see no principled distinction that would allow an attorney's professional corporation to act as a surety. An attorney should not be able to bootstrap his or her way around the surety requirement or Rule 80(b)(1). Breck claims that this result unreasonably prevents corporations that carry the name of the appellant from acting as a surety. [A] very substantial class of people (including the Fords, the Rothschilds, the Merrills, the Lynchs, the Deans, the Witters ...) [will] be discriminated against ... without precedent in the common law, logical necessity or social utility. At some point on the continuum from sole ownership of one's own professional corporation to the status of founder and shareholder in a large multinational corporation, there may be sufficient independence for the corporation to act as a surety for the individual. In this case, the trial court was correct as a matter of law. An attorney appellant may not use his or her professional corporation as a surety. The trial court rejected Breck's proffer of real property as collateral for the bond. We review the trial court's determination that a surety is inadequate for an abuse of discretion. Appellate Rule 204(d) provides that the supersedeas bond is subject to the approval of the court and shall have such surety or sureties as the court requires. Rule 204(d) allows the superior court discretion to set the security required for a stay. City of Nome v. Catholic Bishop of N. Alaska, 707 P.2d 870, 878 (Alaska 1985). The rules allow a cash substitute for a bond. Alaska R.Civ.P. 80(g). There is no comparable rule allowing the use of title to real property as a surety. While real or personal property may be adequate surety in some cases, the trial court did not abuse its discretion in this case.