Court Opinion

ID: 9725569
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 11:53:57.25281+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:25:16.736874
License: Public Domain

White, J.,
concurring in part, and in part dissenting.
I concur in that part of the opinion which holds that the condemner had the absolute right of dismissal prior to submission to the jury.
I do not agree that this court may initially fix an attorney fee. That matter should be remanded to the District Court pursuant to Neb. Rev. Stat. § 76-720 (Reissue 1976), which states: “... or if appeal is taken by the condemner and the amount of the final judgment is not less than eight-five per cent of the award . . . the court may in its discretion award to the condemnee a reasonable sum for the fees of his attorney and for fees necessarily incurred for not more • than two expert witnesses.”
The term final judgment refers to the amount finally recovered as damages. Keller v. State, 184 Neb. 853, 172 N.W.2d 782 (1969). Here the amount of the final judgment is the award of the appraisers and obviously is not less than 85 percent of the appraisers’ award. The statute does not require as a condition the rendition of a verdict, simply that there be a final judgment. The statute requires that the allowances be made initially by the court to which the appraisers’ award was appealed, i.e., the District Court.
I would remand to the District Court for determination of the fees and expenses to be allowed.
Krivosha, C.J., joins in this concurrence and dissent.