Background

• Hughes and Ahlgren own neighboring ranches in Fergus County, Montana, with a long history of interaction.
• Dispute centers on Hughes's use of a disputed roadway crossing Ahlgren property to access public roads and Hughes's ranch.
• The disputed roadway connects Highway 87 to a public road and provides an alternate route for Hughes to reach his property.
• Ahlgren blocked the roadway around 2004 after tensions rose when Dan Ahlgren bid on Hughes's state trust land lease.
• Hughes filed a UDJA action in 2009 seeking a prescriptive easement; the district court found no prescriptive easement and implied consent pre-2004.
• The district court awarded Ahlgren attorney fees under § 27-8-313, MCA; Hughes appeals the fee award.

Issues

Key Cases Cited

• Mungas v. Great Falls Clinic, LLP, 2009 MT 426 (MT) (equity requirement for UDJA fees; tangible parameters later)
• Renville v. Farmers Ins. Exch., 2004 MT 366 (MT) (equity and necessity limits on attorney fees under UDJA)
• United Natl. Ins. v. St. Paul Fire & Marine Ins. Co., 2009 MT 269 (MT) (equity analysis for insurance-indemnity declaratory actions; necessity and properness)
• Mungas v. Great Falls Clinic, LLP (second reference for context), 2009 MT 426 (MT) (reemphasizes tangible parameters and threshold equity)
• Trustees of Indiana Univ. v. Buxbaum, 2003 MT 97 (MT) (analysis of whether fee awards are necessary and proper)