Opinion ID: 1875211
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: grisham-johnson appeal

Text: Here we are faced with the sole question of whether the chancellor erred in awarding trial expenses, including attorney's fees, to Foxworth and J.K. Hinton for having to travel to court and defend the action in trespass filed against them. This was error. With the sole exception of punitive damages cases, in the absence of contractual provision or statutory authority therefor, this Court has never approved awarding trial expenses and attorney's fees to the successful litigant. It has consistently been our view that such expenses are not allowable as part of the costs. Stanton & Associates, Inc. v. Bryant Const. Co., Inc., 464 So.2d 499 (Miss. 1985); Gardner v. Jones, 464 So.2d 1144 (Miss. 1985); Litten v. Grenada County, 437 So.2d 387 (Miss. 1983); Subscribers Cas. Reciprocal Exchange v. Totaro, 370 So.2d 1342 (Miss. 1979); Bellefonte Ins. Co. v. Griffin, 358 So.2d 387 (Miss. 1978); Clow Corp., et al., v. J.D. Mullican, Inc., et al., 356 So.2d 579 (Miss. 1978); Dedeaux v. Dauro, 275 So.2d 863 (Miss. 1973); Bridges v. Land, 252 So.2d 209 (Miss. 1971); Faulkner Concrete Pipe Co. v. U.S. Fidelity & Guaranty Co., 218 So.2d 1 (Miss. 1968); Gilchrist Tractor Co. v. Stribling, 192 So.2d 409 (Miss. 1966); and Barber v. Barber, 234 Miss. 89, 105 So.2d 630 (1958). Even where legal counsel for plaintiff unnecessarily put the opposing side to extra legal and trial expenses, in the recent case of Owens v. Whitwell, 481 So.2d 1071 (Miss. 1986), we refused to permit an award of attorney's fees. Of course, parties may by contract provide that in event of dispute, the losing party must pay the winner attorney's fees. Faulkner Concrete Pipe Co., supra ; Barron v. Murdock Accept. Corp., 240 Miss. 521, 127 So.2d 878 (1961); and Alexander v. The Fidelity & Casualty Co., 232 Miss. 629, 100 So.2d 347 (1958). Likewise, there are statutory provisions for awarding attorney's fees in certain cases. For example: open accounts, see: Westinghouse Credit Corp. v. Moore & McCalib, 361 So.2d 990, 992 (Miss. 1978); Evans v. Central Service & Supply Co. 226 So.2d 616, 618 (Miss. 1969); payment bond, see: Alexander v. Fidelity & Casualty Co., supra . [3] Also, as noted, in the punitive damage case exception, attorney's fees may be considered as part of the award. See: Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Miss. v. Campbell, 466 So.2d 833, 845 (Miss. 1984). That a party may not be able to get his attorney's fees paid as part of the costs does not mean that attorney's fees are not a proper element of damages in an appropriate case. Where a grantee in a warranty deed was required to employ an attorney to perfect his title, payment of grantee's attorney's fees was part of the damages in a subsequent suit against the grantor for breach of warranty. Howard v. Clanton, 481 So.2d 272 (Miss. 1986). Similarly, where an insured is compelled to defend himself in an action because his insurer breached its contract in denying its obligation to defend him under its liability policy, the attorney's fees incurred in the defense of that action may be awarded the insured as contract damages in a subsequent action against the insurer. Rent-A-Scooter, Inc. v. Universal Underwriters Ins. Co., 285 Minn. 264, 173 N.W.2d 9 (1969). Here we are concerned solely with attorney's fees being allowable as part of the costs of a lawsuit. Unfortunately, none of our cases gives the historical basis for Mississippi's adherence to the general rule of disallowing attorney's fees as a part of trial costs. As early as 1278, the courts of England were authorized to award counsel fees to successful plaintiffs in litigation. Similarly, since 1607 English courts have been empowered to award counsel fees to defendants in all actions where such awards might be plaintiffs. See: Goodhard, Costs, 38 Yale L.J. 849, 852 (1920). Although some American commentators have urged adoption of the English practice in this country, our courts have generally resisted any movement in that direction. Ehrenzweig, Reimbursements of Counsel Fees and the Great Society, 54 Calif.L. Rev. 792 (1966) 15 Minn.L.Rev. 619 (1931). A careful examination of the origin and development of this country's existing rule regarding attorney fees reveal two distinct reasons why this rule has evolved and maintained its longevity in our American judicial system: (1) to encourage a uniform system of awarding attorney's fees and court costs throughout this country; (2) to provide uninhibited access to the courts to a prospective plaintiff regardless of his income. In 1853 there was much concern in both houses of Congress about the inequities that were rampant from state to state as to how costs and attorney's fees were assessed to the losing litigants. Losing litigants were being unfairly saddled with exorbitant fees for the victor's attorney. Because of these concerns, Congress passed the Act of 1853 which set up statutory amounts to be assessed a losing litigant and excluded any other fees that were not expressly called for in that piece of legislation. See Act of February 26, 1853, 10 Stat. 161-62 (1853) [codified as amended at 28 U.S.C. §§ 571-72 (1926)]; Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. v. Wilderness Society, 421 U.S. 240, 95 S.Ct. 1612, 1621, 44 L.Ed.2d 141 (1975). Free access to the courts by the poor as well as the affluent appears to be the prevailing reason for our existing rule regarding attorney's fees. In support of our American rule, it has been argued that since litigation is at best uncertain one should not be penalized for merely defending or prosecuting a lawsuit, and that the poor might be unjustly discouraged from instituting actions to vindicate their rights if the penalty for losing included the fees of their opponent's counsel. Farmer v. Arabian American Oil Co., 379 U.S. 227, at 235, 85 S.Ct. 411, at 416, 13 L.Ed.2d 248 (1964). Also, the time, expense and difficulties of proof inherent in litigating the question of what constitutes reasonable attorney's fees would pose substantial burdens for judicial administration. Oelrichs v. Spain, 15 Wall. 211, 82 U.S. 211, 21 L.Ed. 43 (1872). In addressing the issue of awarding attorney's fees to the winning party, the following is stated in Successful Plaintiffs in Trademark Infringement Actions Under the Lanham Act May not Recover Attorney's Fees, 65 Mich.L.Rev. 593, 594 (1967): ... During the formative stages of our country's development, relatively few litigants engaged attorneys to represent them in court so that the question of attorney's fees was not commonly encountered; when the question was presented, the courts, seeking to promote free access to the judicial processes, felt constrained not to award attorney's fees since they believed that such an award to a successful litigant might discourage a potential litigant from bringing a somewhat dubious suit. Contemporary arguments have reinforced these historical bases of judicial reluctance to award attorney's fees to the successful litigant. Attorney's fees, it is argued, cannot properly be classified as damages because they are too remote from the wrong done, are not reasonably foreseeable as flowing from the act of the defendant, and accrue only after the cause of action is complete. Furthermore, there is the fear that attorney's fees would tend to become exorbitant if they could be charged to the losing party and that there would be administrative difficulty in determining what amount is reasonable. Finally, it is argued that a party should be compensated only for harm suffered as a result of wrongful conduct and that to institute or defend a suit in a court of law should not be considered wrongful unless it is totally unfounded and malicious. In Farmer v. Arabian American Oil Co., 379 U.S. 227, 235, 85 S.Ct. 411, 416, 13 L.Ed.2d 248 (1964), the Court stated: It has not been an accident that the American litigant must bear his own cost of counsel and other trial expense save for minimal court costs, but a deliberate choice to ensure that access to the courts be not effectively denied those of moderate means . .. It should be also noted that Federal courts have the statutory authority, in cases where either side has pursued a frivolous or harassing position, to assess attorney's fees. 28 U.S.C. §§ 1927, 2412, 2678; 35 U.S.C. § 285. Also, see: F.D. Rich Co. v. United States, 417 U.S. 116, 129, 94 S.Ct. 2157, 2165, 40 L.Ed.2d 703 (citing Vaughan v. Atkinson, 369 U.S. 527, 82 S.Ct. 997, 8 L.Ed.2d 88 (1962); c.f. Universal Oil Products Co. v. Root Refining Co., 328 U.S. 575, 580, 66 S.Ct. 1176, 1179, 90 L.Ed. 1447 (1946); Flora v. Moore, 461 F. Supp. 1104 (N.D.Miss. 1978).