Noey v. Ukpeagvik Inupiat Corp.

In February, 1981 Stephen W. Noey & Associates, Ltd., et al. (hereafter Noey) and Ukpeagvik Inupiat Corporation (hereafter UIC), the Barrow Village corporation, entered into a written agreement whereby Noey would appraise certain properties owned by UIC in and around Barrow. UIC paid Noey $10,000 when the contract was signed. A dispute arose between the parties and on May 27, 1983 UIC filed suit for rescission and restitution in the superior court in Barrow claiming that Noey had not fully performed his duties under the contract. On May 31, 1983, unaware of the Barrow suit, Noey filed suit in the superior court in Anchorage claiming that it had performed all required appraisal services and that UIC owed it $13,000 under the written agreement and $3,500 for additional services performed at the request of UIC.

On June 6, 1983 Noey was served with notice of the UIC Barrow complaint. Noey responded by filing a motion to dismiss the complaint on the grounds of improper venue, or, in the alternative, to have venue transferred to the Third Judicial District at Anchorage. Noey�s motion argued,�inter alia, that it could not get a fair trial in Barrow because a large percentage of the jury pool there are UIC shareholders and therefore biased toward UIC. Judge Jeffery rejected this argument and held that the interest in having the controversy decided locally outweighed any prejudice that could result from the Barrow jurors� ownership in UIC. Judge Jeffery further stated that UIC shareholders would not be subject to a challenge for cause under Civil Rule 47(c)(12). Noey then filed a petition for review.

We hereby GRANT the petition for review of Judge Jeffery�s ruling solely as to the question whether UIC shareholders would be subject to a Rule 47(c)(12) challenge for cause.

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