In response to the Idaho Supreme Court’s controversial decision in Hoffer v. Shappard, 160 Idaho 868, 380 P.3d 681 (2016), the Idaho legislature amended Idaho Code § 12-121 (effective March 1, 2017). The statute now reads:

In any civil action, the judge may award reasonable attorney’s fees to the prevailing party or parties when

The Idaho Supreme Court recently instructed that to preserve issues regarding the reasonableness of attorney fee awards for appeal, objections must be stated with particularity in a motion to disallow costs. In Fagen, Inc. v. Rogerson Flats Wind Park, LLC, 2016 Opinion No. 8 (Jan. 26, 2016), following judgment, the plaintiff filed a memorandum

The Idaho Supreme Court recently made clear that its authority to award attorney fees under a federal statute is not constrained by United States Supreme Court precedent. In James v. City of Boise, 2015 Opinion No. 49 (May 21, 2015), the Court affirmed the judgment of the district court dismissing the plaintiff’s complaint seeking

In Sacred Heart Medical Center v. Knapp (pdf), the Court of Appeals concluded that a remand for further consideration of whether a claimant is in need of vocational services does not constitute a grant of “additional relief” under RCW 51.52.130(1)’s fee-shifting provision.
Continue Reading “Additional Relief” in Industrial Insurance Act Fee-Shifting Provision Clarified

People waiting to know whether the King County shoreline master program (“SMP”) properly applies with the Burien city limits shouldn’t hold their breath.  That is because the Court of Appeals recently held that the petitioners in Patterson v. Segale lacked standing under the APA  to challenge Burien’s decision that the King County SMP continues to apply to areas within the city limits following Burien’s incorporation in 1993.  After the petitioners settled their underlying dispute with a neighbor about the terms of a development permit issued in accordance with the King County SMP, they no longer could establish any concrete injury resulting from Burien’s decision that could be redressed by a favorable court ruling.
Continue Reading No, We Really Mean It. Parties Have To Have Standing To Challenge An Agency Decision Under The APA.

Authored by Jason Specht of Stoel Rives LLP (Portland).

The Oregon Court of Appeals re-affirmed its commitment to applying Oregon’s attorney fee provision, ORS 20.083, as establishing a broad reciprocity principle: in contract disputes, where the contract or a statute would entitle one party to attorney fees if it prevails, then the other party is likewise entitled to attorney fees if it prevails.
Continue Reading Reciprocity Principle Applies to Statutory Attorney Fees Provision Says Oregon Court of Appeals