Page:Lake View School District No. 25 v. Huckabee, 351 Ark. 31 (2002).pdf/60

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Lake View Sch. Dist. No. 25 v. Huckabee
Cite as 351 Ark. 31 (2002)
[351


See In Re: Continental Illinois Sec. Litig., 962 F.2d 566 (7th Cir. 1992); Rand v. Monsanto Co., 926 F.2d 596 (7th Cir. 1991).

Neither case is persuasive. First, neither case is a schoolfunding matter involving a monetary claim against a state government. In both cases, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals discussed the duties of a class representative, and only In Re: Continental Illinois Sec. Litig. did the court address the fact that in some instances, a plaintiff may be entitled to an incentive fee. However, the court in neither case concluded that the plaintiff involved was entitled to an incentive award. In its brief, Lake View failed to cite to a rule for when an incentive award is appropriate or to develop an argument based on that rule. We have said time and again that this court will not research an appellant's argument for it. See, e.g., Holt v. Wagner, 344 Ark. 691, 43 S.W.3d 128 (2001).

[35] We finally note that the trial court did not specifically address Lake View's incentive-award claim but issued a blanket denial of all claims not addressed. Regardless, Lake View's failure to develop this point legally or factually is reason enough to affirm the trial court on this issue.

f. Contempt and Retroactive Funding

Lake View submits that the record clearly establishes that there was an intentional violation of Judge Imber's 1994 order by the State with the passage of the 1995 and 1997 legislative acts. Thus, according to Lake View, a contempt sanction is warranted. Lake View further maintains that retroactive funding by the State to the school districts back to 1994, under the school-funding formula it espouses, is required. However, Lake View leaves this court in the dark as to what that retroactive funding should be and which school districts should receive it.

[36] Again, our failure to embrace Lake View's law-of-the-case argument vis-à-vis Judge Imber's 1994 order largely decides the issue of contempt. Moreover, we are hard pressed to conclude that the State is in contempt of the 1994 order, when we have already concluded that the issue in this appeal is whether the