Opinion ID: 874087
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 8

Heading: Neither Party Is Entitled to Attorney's Fees

Text: Sopatyk requests attorney's fees on appeal under I.C. § 12-121. This Court has already explicitly held that I.C. § 12-117 is the exclusive means for seeking attorney's fees against the entities to which it applies. Smith v. Wash. Cnty., 150 Idaho 388, 392, 247 P.3d 615, 619 (2010); Potlatch Educ. Ass'n v. Potlatch Sch. Dist. No. 285, 148 Idaho 630, 635, 226 P.3d 1277, 1282 (2010). Sopatyk is therefore not entitled to attorney's fees. The County requests attorney's fees under I.C. § 12-117. This section was amended in 2010 and now states: Unless otherwise provided by statute, in any administrative proceeding or civil judicial proceeding involving as adverse parties a state agency or political subdivision and a person, the state agency or political subdivision or the court, as the case may be, shall award the prevailing party reasonable attorneys fees, witness fees and other reasonable expenses, if it finds that the nonprevailing party acted without a reasonable basis in fact or law. I.C. § 12-117 (emphasis added). In Smith, this Court noted that, by amending section 12-117, the Legislature was likely responding to an earlier decision, Rammell v. Idaho State Dept. of Agric., 147 Idaho 415, 210 P.3d 523 (2009). Rammell found that the prior version of section 12-117 did enable courts to award fees for judicial review of administrative decisions, but did not enable agencies to award fees during administrative proceedings. Id. at 422-23, 210 P.3d at 530-31. [13] The amended statute provides for fees in any administrative proceeding or civil judicial proceeding, which, as this Court held in Smith, has the opposite effect of its predecessor-courts may not award fees in review of administrative decisions, but agencies can now award fees during administrative proceedings. Smith, 150 Idaho at 392, 247 P.3d at 619. The County acknowledges that Smith controls here, but asserts that this Court should overrule Smith because the Legislature intended to expand the availability of attorney's fees, not bar fee awards in administrative appeals. It points to the legislative history of the 2010 amendment as evidence that the Legislature inadvertently drafted section 12-117 to prohibit awards in petitions for review of administrative decisions. Stare decisis requires this Court to follow controlling precedent unless it is manifestly wrong, proven to be unjust or unwise, or overruling it is necessary in light of obvious principles of law and justice. Grease Spot, Inc. v. Harnes, 148 Idaho 582, 585, 226 P.3d 524, 527 (2010). Interpreting a statute is an issue of law over which this Court exercises free review. State v. Doe, 147 Idaho 326, 327, 208 P.3d 730, 731 (2009). Although this Court strives foremost to give effect to the Legislature's intent, any statutory interpretation must begin by applying a provision's plain and ordinary meaning. Wheeler v. Idaho Dep't of Health & Welfare, 147 Idaho 257, 263, 207 P.3d 988, 994 (2009). This Court's interpretation of section 12-117 was not manifestly wrong. As this Court explained in Smith, the plain language of that section enables the relevant adjudicative body to award fees only in administrative proceedings or in civil judicial proceedings. Administrative proceedings are, by definition, proceedings not before a court, while civil judicial proceedings are, by definition, proceedings in court commenced by a complaint. Smith, 150 Idaho at 391, 247 P.3d at 618. This case meets neither definition because it originated in court with a petition for judicial review. Id. Further, there is no obvious principle of justice at stake here. The courts' very jurisdiction over administrative appeals is controlled by the Legislature, including the specific issue of when parties may receive attorney's fees. See Laughy v. Idaho Dep't of Transp., 149 Idaho 867, 870, 243 P.3d 1055, 1058 (2010); see also PHH Mortg. Servs. Corp. v. Perreira, 146 Idaho 631, 641, 200 P.3d 1180, 1190 (2009). Since Idaho follows the American Rule for attorney's fees, no fee awards are available absent contractual or statutory authority. Mortensen v. Stewart Title Guar. Co., 149 Idaho 437, 447-48, 235 P.3d 387, 397-98 (2010). Having allowed parties to bring petitions for judicial review in the first place, the Legislature could reasonably have intended to withhold fee awards in such cases. No fundamental principle of law requires attorney's fees in judicial review of administrative decisions, nor is there any basic injustice in requiring parties in such proceedings to pay their own attorneys. This Court must apply the plain and unambiguous language in the statute and adhere to its prior controlling precedent.