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Powell v. Sphere Drake Insurance9/4/2001
rred by the four-year statute of limitations.
III. FRAUDULENT TRANSFER
Washington's UFTA, chapter 19.40. RCW, defines 'transfer' as 'every mode, direct or indirect, absolute or conditional, voluntary or involuntary, of disposing of or parting with an asset or an interest in an asset, and includes payment of money, release, lease, and creation of a lien or other encumbrance.' RCW 19.40.011(12).
Powell claims that APS had a potentional bad faith claim against Sphere Drake, and that a fraudelent transfer occurred when Sphere Drake effectively placed APS's bad faith claim out of Powell's reach. To support his contention that Sphere Drake transferred APS's bad faith claim to itself, Powell cites to the following federal district court findings:
Defendants Alaskan 8 Star Enterprises, Inc. {a}nd Alaskan Pacific Star, Inc. have been dissolved effective November 20, 1992 and November 23, 1992 respectively, and plaintiff is precluded from pursuing this action against those def{endants}.
The federal court later attached an addendum to its ruling: Plaintiff shall be entitled to attempt collection of said judgment against Alaskan Pacific Star Inc from any assets which may have been distributed to the shareholders of said corporations following its dissolution.
Nothing herein shall in any way be deemed to affect one way or the other the question of any insurance coverage that may or may not be provided to Alaskan Pacific Eight Corp or the ability to trigger said coverage.
We fail to see how the above findings show that any of APS's remaining assets, including any bad faith claim, tranferred specifically to Sphere Drake. Hence, we conclude that Powell's UFTA claim has no merit.
IV. CROSS-APPEAL / ATTORNEY FEES
Sphere Drake cross-appeals the trial court's denial of its request for attorney fees and costs.
RCW 4.84.185, the statute on which Sphere Drake relies, authorizes an award of attorney fees and costs against a party who files an action that is 'frivolous and advanced without reasonable cause.' For attorney fees and costs to be awarded under RCW 4.84.185, the lawsuit, as a whole, must be frivolous. Accordingly, where any one of a number of claims is allowed to proceed to trial, fees and costs could not be awarded under the statute as to any of the claims. Biggs v. Vail, 119 Wn.2d 129, 830 P.2d 350 (1992).
Sphere Drake claims that since the trial court properly dismissed all of Powell's claims on summary judgment, it necessarily follows that the court decided that no reasonable person could have found in Powell's favor, and thus Powell's claims were frivolous. We do not find Powell's claims frivolous.
We affirm the trial court's summary judgment dismissal of Powell's claims, and affirm the trial court's denial of Sphere Drake's request for attorney fees.
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