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24. It concluded that “[i]f [Petitioners’] counsel had understood and followed the proper procedures for requesting the award of attorney’s fees and costs, the
taxpayers might have had to pay a substantially larger
amount to [Petitioners].” Supp. App. 24. The trial court
determined that “[i]t facially appears that [Petitioners’] [fee] request at the appellate level was denied because it was procedurally improper, that all of the
requested fees and costs should have been submitted
to this court for a factual determination, and that under the Arkansas Rules of Civil and Appellate Procedure that [Petitioners] have forfeited their ability to
request the award of any additional fees or costs by not
properly and timely submitting them to this court for
adjudication.” Supp. App. 26.
The trial court went on to grant Petitioners’ motion for trial-level attorney’s fees, but it reduced the
award from the $88,440 in fees Petitioners sought to
$70,637.50. Supp. App. 28.
On March 6, 2018, Petitioners filed a motion for
partial reconsideration of the trial court’s order concerning attorney’s fees. Supp. App. 29. Rather than
take issue with the trial court’s determination of the
amount of fees, Petitioners instead asked the trial
court to modify its order to omit its discussion of Petitioners’ procedural default of their ability to seek
appellate fees. App. 30. Petitioners defended the procedural steps they had taken in the trial court and the
Arkansas Supreme Court with regard to attorney’s
fees. Specifically, Petitioners argued that they filed
their fee motion in the Arkansas Supreme Court “in