Niccum v. Enquist

Alexander, J.*

¶1 We granted Ryan Enquist’s petition to review a decision of the Court of Appeals in which that court affirmed the trial court’s award of costs and reasonable attorney’s fees to Jeffery Niccum at a trial de novo following mandatory arbitration. The Court of Appeals held that the trial court properly subtracted statutory costs and attorney fees from Niccum’s offer of compromise before determining that Enquist failed to improve his position for purposes of MAR 7.3. We reverse the Court of Appeals.

I

¶2 On July 4, 2004, Ryan Enquist drove through a red light at the intersection of…