§ 5.2 COMMON-LAW BASES FOR PUNITIVE FEE AWARDS

• Jurisdiction: Arizona

§ 5.2 Common-Law Bases for Punitive Fee Awards

It is "unquestionably" within the inherent power of a court to award attorneys' fees when an opponent has acted in bad faith, vexatiously, wantonly, or for oppressive reasons. Alyeska Pipeline Serv. Co. v. Wilderness Soc'y,421 U.S. 240, 258-59 (1975). In 1991, the United States Supreme Court addressed whether this inherent power was displaced to the extent that a statute or rule provided a basis for sanctioning the conduct in question, and held that it was not. In Chambers v. NASCO, Inc., 501 U.S. 32 (1991), the Court held that the inherent power to punish misconduct "plainly" survives when the conduct is not covered by another basis for sanctions. The Court went on to hold that a court may use its inherent powers even when the conduct in question could be sanctioned pursuant to a statute or a rule. A court should ordinarily rely upon a rule if one is available, the Court explained, "[b]ut if in the informed discretion of the court...