Court Opinion

ID: 9667430
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 01:45:21.401008+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:15:37.778935
License: Public Domain

Annabelle Clinton Imber, Justice, concurring. In reversing the trial court’s award of attorney’s fees, the majority states, “[T]he trial court abused its discretion in awarding Appellees their requested attorneys’ fees, where only one of their causes of actions, namely the ADTPA claim, provided for such an award.” In support of this result, the majority cites Stein v. Lukas, 308 Ark. 74, 823 S.W.2d 832 (1992), Wheeler Motor Co., Inc. v. Roth, 315 Ark. 318, 867 S.W.2d 446 (1993), and Meyer v. Riverdale Harbor Mun. Prop. Owners Imp. Dist. No. 1, 58 Ark. App. 91, 947 S.W.2d 20 (1997). In my opinion, these cases do not mandate reversal of the trial court’s award of attorney’s fees; rather, the award of attorney’s fees must be set aside as premature in view of the fact that this case is being remanded for a new trial. Thus, I concur with that part of the opinion. In each of the above cases, the request for attorney’s fees was based on Ark. Code Ann. § 16-22-308, which allows for the recovery of attorney’s fees by the prevailing party in disputes of a contractual nature. In each case, the court reasoned that fees were not appropriate where the cause of action primarily sounded in tort. Stein v. Lukas, supra; Wheeler Motor Co., Inc. v. Roth, supra; Meyer v. Riverdale Harbor Mun. Prop. Owners Imp. Dist. No. 1, supra. Here, it seems the majority contends that attorney’s fees are not proper because the appellees’ claims sounded primarily in causes of action other than the ADTPA, namely fraud and negligence. Yet, because Ark. Code Ann. § 4-88-107(a)(1) (Supp. 2003) incorporates an element of knowing misrepresentation into its definition, ADTPA claims brought under this section will inherently involve substantial questions of fraud or misrepresentation. Thus, despite the fact that the present case sounds primarily in misrepresentation and fraud, an award of attorney’s fees would still be proper pursuant to Ark. Code Ann § 4-88-113(1) (Repl. 2001). The unique nature of an ADTPA claim brought under Ark. Code Ann. § 4-88-107(a)(1) mandates that all such claims will primarily sound in fraud or negligence. According to this section, trade practices prohibited by the act include: Knowingly making a false representation as to the characteristics, ingredients, uses, benefits, alterations, source, sponsorship, approval, or certification of goods or services, or as to whether goods are original or new, or of a particular standard, quality, grade, style, or model. Ark. Code Ann. § 4-88-107(a)(l). Based on this language, any plaintiff attempting to establish a violation of the ADTPA will likely also be establishing a case for fraud. This close interrelation is not present with contract and tort claims. While it is entirely possible that a claim would be based in contract and have little or no relation to a tort claim, ADTPA claims under section 4-88-107(a)(l) will, by their very nature, be substantially based in claims of misrepresentation or fraud. Though it is true that attorney’s fees are generally not allowed in a traditional tort case, the legislature has chosen to make such fees available where a fraud or misrepresentation is perpetrated on a consumer. See Ark. Code Ann. §§ 4-88-107(a)(1), 113(f). To disallow attorney’s fees in these cases simply because the claim sounds primarily in fraud or misrepresentation is in direct conflict with the clear legislative intent of this statute. Additionally, other jurisdictions have allowed for the recovery of attorney’s fees in cases involving fraud or misrepresentation where such fees are authorized by a consumer protection statute. Miles Rich Chrysler-Plymouth, Inc. et al v. Mass., 201 Ga.App. 693, 411 S.E.2d 901 (1991); McRae v. Bolstad, 32 Wash.App 173, 646 P.2d771 (1982); Barnhouse Motors, Inc. v. Godfrey, 577 S.W.2d 378 (Tex. Civ. App. 1979). Where, as here, the legislature has expressed a clear intent to overrule our common law precedent and allow attorney’s fees in cases of consumer fraud or misrepresentation, I would not reverse the trial court’s grant of attorney’s fees for the reasons set forth in the majority opinion.