Alaska

Civil Procedure

Civil Procedure

Rule 82 – Attorney’s Fees

(a)Allowance to Prevailing Party. Except as otherwise provided by law or agreed to by the parties, the prevailing party in a civil case shall be awarded attorney’s fees calculated under this rule.
(b)Amount of Award.

(1) The court shall adhere to the following schedule in fixing the award of attorney’s fees to a party recovering a money judgment in a case:

Judgment and, if
awarded, Contested Contested Non-
Prejudgment Interest With Trial Without Trial Contested
First $ 25,000 20% 18% 10%
Next $ 75,000 10% 8% 3%
Next $400,000 10% 6% 2%
Over $500,000 10% 2% 1%
(2) In cases in which the prevailing party recovers no money judgment, the court shall award the prevailing party in a case which goes to trial 30 percent of the prevailing party’s reasonable actual attorney’s fees which were necessarily incurred, and shall award the prevailing party in a case resolved without trial 20 percent of its actual attorney’s fees which were necessarily incurred. The actual fees shall include fees for legal work customarily performed by an attorney but which was delegated to and performed by an investigator, paralegal or law clerk.
(3) The court may vary an attorney’s fee award calculated under subparagraph (b)(1) or (2) of this rule if, upon consideration of the factors listed below, the court determines a variation is warranted:

(A) the complexity of the litigation;
(B) the length of trial;
(C) the reasonableness of the attorneys’ hourly rates and the number of hours expended;
(D) the reasonableness of the number of attorneys used;
(E) the attorneys’ efforts to minimize fees;
(F) the reasonableness of the claims and defenses pursued by each side;
(G) vexatious or bad faith conduct;
(H) the relationship between the amount of work performed and the significance of the matters at stake;
(I) the extent to which a given fee award may be so onerous to the non-prevailing party that it would deter similarly situated litigants from the voluntary use of the courts;
(J) the extent to which the fees incurred by the prevailing party suggest that they had been influenced by considerations apart from the case at bar, such as a desire to discourage claims by others against the prevailing party or its insurer; and
(K) other equitable factors deemed relevant. If the court varies an award, the court shall explain the reasons for the variation.
(4) Upon entry of judgment by default, the plaintiff may recover an award calculated under subparagraph (b)(1) or its reasonable actual fees which were necessarily incurred, whichever is less. Actual fees include fees for legal work performed by an investigator, paralegal, or law clerk, as provided in subparagraph (b)(2).
(c)Motions for Attorney’s Fees. A motion is required for an award of attorney’s fees under this rule or pursuant to contract, statute, regulation, or law. The motion must be filed within 10 days after the date shown in the clerk’s certificate of distribution on the judgment as defined by Civil Rule 58.1. Failure to move for attorney’s fees within 10 days, or such additional time as the court may allow, shall be construed as a waiver of the party’s right to recover attorney’s fees. A motion for attorney’s fees in a default case must specify actual fees.
(d)Determination of Award. Attorney’s fees upon entry of judgment by default may be determined by the clerk. In all other matters the court shall determine attorney’s fees.
(e)Equitable Apportionment Under AS 09.17.080. In a case in which damages are apportioned among the parties under AS 09.17.080, the fees awarded to the plaintiff under (b)(1) of this rule must also be apportioned among the parties according to their respective percentages of fault. If the plaintiff did not assert a direct claim against a third-party defendant brought into the action under Civil Rule 14(c), then (1) the plaintiff is not entitled to recover the portion of the fee award apportioned to that party; and (2) the court shall award attorney’s fees between the third-party plaintiff and the third-party defendant as follows:

(A) if no fault was apportioned to the third-party defendant, the third-party defendant is entitled to recover attorney’s fees calculated under (b)(2) of this rule;
(B) if fault was apportioned to the third-party defendant, the third-party plaintiff is entitled to recover under (b)(2) of this rule 30 or 20 percent of that party’s actual attorney’s fees incurred in asserting the claim against the third-party defendant.
(f)Effect of Rule. The allowance of attorney’s fees by the court in conformance with this rule shall not be construed as fixing the fees between attorney and client.

Alaska R. Civ. P. 82

Adopted by SCO 5 October 9, 1959; amended by SCO 497 effective January 18, 1982; by SCO 712 effective September 15, 1986; by SCO 921 effective January 15, 1989; by SCO 1006 effective January 15, 1990; by SCO 1066 effective July 15, 1991; repealed and reenacted by SCO 1118am effective July 15, 1993; amended by SCO 1195 effective July 15, 1995; by SCO 1200 effective July 15, 1995; by SCO 1241 effective July 15, 1996; and by SCO 1281 effective August 7, 1997; by SCO 1340 effective January 15, 1998; and by SCO 1670 effective July 1, 2009.

NOTE to SCO 1118am: By adopting these amendments to Civil Rule 82, the court intends no change in existing Alaska law regarding the award of attorney’s fees for or against a public interest litigant, see, e.g., Anchorage Daily News v. Anchorage School Dist., 803 P.2d 402, 404 (Alaska 1990); City of Anchorage v. McCabe, 568 P.2d 986, 993-94 (Alaska 1977); Gilbert v. State, 526 P.2d 1131, 1136 (Alaska 1974), or in the law that an award of full attorney’s fees is manifestly unreasonable in the absence of bad faith or vexatious conduct by the non-prevailing party. See, e.g., Malvo v. J.C. Penney Co., 512 P.2d 575, 588 (Alaska 1973); Demoski v. New, 737 P.2d 780, 788 (Alaska 1987).

RABINOWITZ, Justice dissenting.

I dissent from the court’s adoption of the amendments to Civil Rule 82 called for in [SCO 1118am.] In my view no compelling case has been made demonstrating the need for these changes.[FN1] Further, my judicial hunch is that these amendments to Civil Rule 82, in particular the new provisions reflected in (b)(3)(A) through (K), will unnecessarily and dramatically increase litigation over attorney’s fees awards both in our trial courts as well as in this court. [FN2]

[1] In this regard I note that the Alaska Judicial Council is scheduled to conduct an in depth empirical study of the workings of Civil Rule 82. My preference is to await the results of the Council’s study before deciding whether any of the current provisions of Rule 82 should be amended. Such a study should position this court to make a more informed assessment as to whether the current rule operates in a fashion which unjustly denies access to our courts. I further note that our Civil Rules Committee recently surveyed the Alaska Bar membership on discrete aspects of Civil Rule 82. A clear majority of those responding to the committee’s questionnaire indicated: that Civil Rule 82 does not deter people of moderate means from filing valid claims; that the rule does not put excessive pressure on moderate income people to settle valid claims; and that the rule is needed to discourage frivolous litigation.

[2] Any attorney worth his or her salt will, pursuant to the expansive provisions of (b)(3)(A) through (K), request variations from the attorney’s fees awards called for under either the monetary recovery schedule provisions of (b)(1), or the provisions of (b)(2) which apply where no money judgment is recovered by the prevailing party.

Note to SCO 1281: In 1997 the legislature amended AS 09.30.065 concerning offers of judgment. According to ch. 26, § 52, SLA 1997, the amendment to AS 09.30.065 has the effect of amending Civil Rules 68 and 82 by requiring the offeree to pay costs and reasonable actual attorney fees on a sliding scale of percentages in certain cases, by eliminating provisions relating to interest, and by changing provisions relating to attorney fee awards. According to § 55 of the session law, the amendment to AS 09.30.065 applies “to all causes of action accruing on or after the effective date of this Act.” However, the amendments to Civil Rule 68 adopted by paragraph 5 of this order are applicable to all cases filed on or after August 7, 1997. See paragraph 17 of this order.

Note: Chapter 94 SLA 1998 adopts AS 46.03.761, which allows the Department of Environmental Conservation to impose administrative penalties against an entity that fails to construct or operate a public water supply system in compliance with state law or a term or condition imposed by the department. According to section 5 of the act, subsection (j) of this statute has the effect of amending Civil Rules 79 and 82 by allowing the recovery of full reasonable attorney fees and costs in an action to collect administrative penalties assessed under AS 46.03.761.

Note: Chapter 136 SLA 03 (HB 151) amends Chapters 10 and 45 of Title 9 of the Alaska Statutes relating to claims and court actions for defects in the design, construction, and remodeling of certain dwellings and limits on when certain court actions may be brought. According to Section 4(1) of the Act, AS 09.45.889(b) has the effect of amending Civil Rule 82 by allowing the court to deny attorney fees to a claimant in the situation described in AS 09.45.889(b), even if the claimant is the prevailing party.

Note: Chapter 92 SLA 2008 (HB 65) added a new chapter to AS 45 relating to security of personal information, effective July 1, 2009. According to section 6(b) of the Act, AS 45.48.200(a), 45.48.480(b), 45.48.560, and 45.48.750(d), enacted by section 4, have the effect of changing Civil Rule 82 by changing the criteria for determining the amount of attorney fees to be awarded to a party in an action under AS 45.48.200(a), 45.48.480(b), 45.48.560, or 45.48.750(d).

LAW REVIEW COMMENTARIES

“Summary Judgment In Alaska,” 32 Alaska L. Rev. 181 (2015).

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