Carl Moses v. Lillie Mcgarvey

BOOCHEVER, Justice. OPINION. This case involves the award of attorneys fees in a suit brought by nineteen shareholders against The Aleut Corporation (Aleut); Carl Moses, president of Aleut; Arlene Moses, his daughter; and Stanley Mack, a director of Aleut. All of the defendants were presented. In awarding judgment in favor of the shareholders, the court ordered the shareholders costs and full attorneys fees to be paid by Aleut. Aleut, in turn was awarded a judgment against Carl Moses for the amount of the shareholders judgment against Aleut. Included in the award of fees to the shareholders was a sum for payment for the services of attorneys John Anthony Smith and Kneeland Taylor, who withdrew from the litigation after our decision in Aleut Corporation v. McGarvey, 573 P.2d 473 (Alaska 1978). In that case we held that Smith and Taylor had a conflict of interest which barred them from representing the shareholders because of their prior representation of Aleut. In addition, the court further awarded Aleut a judgment against Moses for the corporations costs and full attorneys fees in defending the action.