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Payne v. Wallace8/14/2001
s frivolous. See Simons v. Simons, 134 Idaho 824, 830, 11 P.3d 20, 26 (2000). "Where . . . there are multiple claims and multiple defenses, it is not appropriate to segregate those claims and defenses to determine which were or were not frivolously defended or pursued. The total defense of a party's proceedings must be unreasonable or frivolous." Magic Valley Radiology Associates v. Professional Bus. Services, Inc., 119 Idaho 558, 563, 808 P.2d 1303, 1308 (1991).
In the present case, the district court declined to award attorney fees to the Paynes because Wallace's defense was not entirely frivolous. There is no abuse of discretion in this determination. Although Diana prevailed on her personal injury claim, Wallace prevailed on the claims asserted by James and Stacie and also on the Paynes' request for punitive damages. Further, with respect to Diana's damages, Wallace raised legitimate issues as to whether some of the asserted medical expenses and lost wages were caused by the collision or by an independent medical condition and a fall that Diana suffered after the automobile accident. The district court's denial of attorney fees pursuant to I.C. ยง 12-121 is therefore affirmed.
2. I.R.C.P. 37(c)
The Paynes also assert entitlement to attorney fees as sanctions for Wallace's unreasonable denial of two requests for admissions. During the discovery phase of these proceedings, the Paynes served requests for admissions asking Wallace to "admit that Defendant Michael F. Wallace was guilty of negligence which was a proximate cause of the accident." Another request asked that he "admit that none of the Plaintiffs was guilty of negligence which was a proximate cause of the accident." Both requests were initially denied by Wallace. On the day before the trial, however, Wallace's attorney notified the Paynes' attorney that Wallace would admit negligence and liability for the accident. Based on Wallace's initial denial of their requests for admissions, the Paynes sought an award of attorney fees pursuant to I.R.C.P. 37(c) which provides:
If a party fails to admit the . . . truth of any matter as requested under Rule 36, and if the party requesting the admissions thereafter proves the . . . truth of the matter, the requesting party may apply to the court for an order requiring the other party to pay the reasonable expenses incurred in making that proof, including reasonable attorney's fees. The court shall make the order unless it finds that (1) the request was held objectionable pursuant to Rule 36(a), or (2) the admission sought was of no substantial importance, or (3) the party failing to admit had reasonable ground to believe that the party might prevail on the matter, or (4) there was other good reason for the failure to admit.
The district court denied the Paynes' claim for sanctions under this rule.
By its plain terms, Rule 37(c) authorizes sanctions only in favor of a party who, after a request for admission was denied, "thereafter proves . . . the truth of the matter . . . ." (Emphasis added.) Here, although Wallace's refusal to admit one or both of the Paynes' requests for admissions may have been unreasonable, he ultimately stipulated to liability, thereby removing the issue of his negligence or the Paynes' comparative negligence from the issues to be contested at trial. Applying the plain language of Rule 37(c), we conclude that in this circumstance, because the Paynes were not called upon to prove at trial the issues covered by the requests for admissions, Rule 37(c) sanctions were properly denied by the district court.
This ruling should not be seen as allowing unethical or improper discovery practices to go unpunished. Admit
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