S.E. Sigdestad and Joah C. Sigdestad v‪.‬

The question presented in this appeal is whether the district court abused its discretion by awarding attorney fees to prevailing plaintiffs in a wrongful death action. We affirm the award. Mr. and Mrs. S.E. Sigdestad brought this action, alleging that Kent C. Gold negligently had caused the death of their son, Murray, in a motor vehicle accident. Murray was a passenger in a vehicle driven by Gold, which crashed through a bridge railing and came to rest in the Big Wood River. Gold later admitted in a deposition that he and Murray had consumed intoxicating beverages before the accident. He also stated that when the accident occurred, he was driving seventy miles per hour over a bridge that he knew could not be negotiated safely at a speed greater than fifteen miles per hour. After this deposition, Mr. and Mrs. Sigdestad offered to settle for $50,000, the policy limit of Gold's liability insurance. Two days before trial Gold made a counter-offer of $15,000, which was declined. A jury ultimately awarded damages of $72,259.00. The district court reduced this sum to $57,807.20 upon a finding by the jury that twenty percent of the negligence could be attributed to Murray. However, the court later added an award of attorney fees in the sum of $19,269.00 -- approximately one-third of the adjusted damage recovery.