Chris Froines sued Valdez Fisheries Development Association for breach of contract in 2000. After the superior court granted summary judgment for VFDA, the Alaska Supreme Court reversed and remanded; on remand Froines made a $15,000 offer of judgment that VFDA rejected, and at trial Froines obtained a verdict that, with interest and costs, exceeded the offer by more than five percent. Froines then moved under Alaska Civil Rule 68(b)(2) for fifty percent of his reasonable actual attorney's fees incurred after the offer. The superior court awarded only $10,000, applying factors from Rule 1.5 of the Rules of Professional Conduct such as lack of novelty and modest recovery. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that several Rule 1.5 factors lose probative value under Rule 68 because its purpose is to encourage pretrial settlement, not merely to compensate a prevailing party.

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