Court awards big fees in lawsuit

By KEITH KINNAIRD

News editor

SANDPOINT — Bonner County is being ordered to pay nearly $753,000 in attorney fees and costs after losing a lawsuit filed by developers of SilverWing at Sandpoint.

The developers of the fly-in housing project next to Sandpoint Airport won a $250,000 judgment last fall. Jurors concluded the company had detrimentally relied upon county officials’ statements on the location of a taxiway and runway.

SilverWing’s attorneys moved for the award of costs and fees after the jury verdict. Attorneys representing the county put forth a number of arguments why SilverWing should not be awarded fees and costs, but few gained any loft with 1st District Judge Richard Christensen, according to a 29-page ruling that was issued on Thursday.

The county maintained the court lacked jurisdiction to make an award because they are a matter of dispute in U.S. District Court, where SilverWing’s suit originated. Christensen held that there is no risk of inconsistent judgments because the claims are not the same.

The county emphasized that it prevailed on three of the four claims raised by SilverWing in federal court, leaving Idaho’s district court to resolve the surviving promissory estoppel claim which SilverWing ended up prevailing on. But Christensen said he was not considering the claims that were rejected in federal court, the order said.

Moreover, a $250,000 jury verdict, coupled with SilverWing’s successful defense of two counterclaims raised by the county, made it clear that the company was the prevailing party in state court litigation. Christensen noted that the county had argued that it was the prevailing party because it had mounted a successful defense in the case.

“To call its defense a success, in light of a $250,000 verdict and a loss of two counterclaims, is a measure of inflated pride,” Christensen wrote.

After the state court verdict, county commissioners claimed victory because SilverWing was ordered to pay $750,000 in fees and costs in federal court, which vastly eclipsed the $250,000 verdict won by SilverWing in state court.

Christensen, however, declined to award SilverWing more than $157,000 in discretionary costs — expert witness fees, document production and travel expenses — it was seeking. He ruled that such costs amounted to “modern litigation overhead” and that the issues involved were fairly basic legal concepts such as promissory estoppel, breach of contract and the covenant of good-faith dealing.

Christensen ultimately held that fees in the case were high but reasonable because SilverWing aggressively pursued its claims and the county vigorously defended the suit.

“The cost of litigation in this case is exorbitant, based on the way it was litigated between the parties,” Christensen wrote.

Keith Kinnaird can be reached by email at kkinnaird@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow him on Twitter @KeithDailyBee.