Opinion ID: 1144149
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: whether gammill should have been awarded attorneys fees' and expert witness fees

Text: ¶ 29. In denying Gammill's request for attorneys fees and expert witness fees, the chancellor recognized that Miss.Code Ann. § 95-5-10(3) gives the trial judge discretion to award expert witness fees and attorneys' fees to a litigant who prevails on a claim of cutting of timber. All reasonable expert witness fees and attorney's fees shall be assessed as court costs in the discretion of the court. Miss. Code Ann. § 95-5-10(3). The trial judge also read Miss.Code Ann. § 95-5-10 as a whole to provide for two types of violations, intentional cutting and cutting done by mistake, each resulting in different damage amounts for violations. The trial court found that the Stockstills cut down the trees on the subject land mistakenly, not intentionally, and that to award attorneys' fees in such a case would amount to removing the discretion afforded the trial judge by the statute under Miss.Code Ann. § 95-5-10(3) and encourage rewarding attorneys' fees in every such case of a violation by mistake. The trial court found that, though punitive damages were not a prerequisite to awarding attorneys' fees, Mississippi law seemed to frown on awarding attorneys' fees in cases unless they were coupled with punitive damages. See Grisham v. Hinton, 490 So.2d 1201, 1205 (Miss.1986). 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. Even where legal counsel for plaintiff unnecessarily put the opposing side to extra legal and trial expenses . . . we refused to permit an award of attorney's fees. Id. at 1205-06 (internal citations omitted). Since no punitive damages were awarded in this case, and because the record supports a finding that the cutting of the timber was done by mistake, the trial judge in his discretion decided not to award attorneys' fees to Gammill, notwithstanding the fact that judgment was entered in her favor. ¶ 30. On cross-appeal, Gammill argues primarily that the word shall means that awarding attorneys' fees is absolutely required. Indeed, Miss.Code Ann. § 95-5-10(3) states: All reasonable expert witness fees and attorney's fees shall be assessed as court costs in the discretion of the court. However, when this subsection is viewed in its entirety, the only logical interpretation which can be afforded is that the court has discretion in determining whether to award expert witness fees and attorneys fees, and if so, in what (reasonable) amount, but if such fees are awarded by the court, in the exercise of discretion, such fees shall be assessed as court costs. From the record, we find no abuse of discretion by the chancellor in refusing to award a successful litigant expert witness fees and attorneys' fees. Stated differently, we certainly cannot find from the record that the chancellor, in the denial of expert witness fees and attorneys' fees to Gammill was manifestly wrong, clearly erroneous, or applied the wrong legal standard. This issue is without merit.