Court Opinion

ID: 9791245
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-31 02:08:05.256669+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:37:35.089281
License: Public Domain

BISTLINE, Justice,
concurring in part and dissenting in part:
While I am basically in accord with the substantive analysis of the majority opinion in this case, a brief mention of the dicta concerning the chemical properties of water is in order. Laying no claim to being a chemist, I cannot state with certainty that water is or is not a chemical. However, that the majority has seen fit to make such a determination without a request from the parties to do so and without briefing on the issue is a source of concern. The question of water’s chemical status may squarely confront us some day. Until that time, the issue is best left unresolved.
I also cannot concur with the majority’s views concerning the award of attorneys’ fees. It used to be that an award of attorneys’ fees was a sanction reserved for conduct on the part of an attorney or a party which was particularly egregious, or an award would be made as a means of insuring that an injured party’s award was not substantially reduced through the payment of fees. Now, however, awards of fees are almost commonplace — all too frequently, so it seems, if litigants lose, they not only pay their own attorneys’ fees, they pay those of opposing counsel as well. Clearly the courts are not as “open” as the framers of the Constitution intended that they be.
If these awards of fees are intended as sanctions, then the opinions that make the awards should explicitly define what conduct is being sanctioned. If, on the other hand, as is suspected, the increase in attorneys’ fees awards is an attempt to reduce the amount of litigation perceived to be overwhelming our court system, that use is inappropriate. There are other means of reducing litigation which are more direct, more forthright, and probably more effective than awarding attorneys’ fees against losing litigants. As was recognized by two members of the Court in Minich v. Gem State Developers, Inc., 99 Idaho 911, 919, *955591 P.2d 1078, 1086 (1979) (Donaldson, J., concurring and dissenting, and Bistline, J., concurring), this Court has neither inherent nor statutory authority to award attorneys’ fees on appeal. The sooner the Court recognizes that fact and restricts its awards of fees to the clear confines of the statute, the better.