Jacques All Trades Corp. v. Brown

• Decision Date: 04 April 2000
• Docket Number: (AC 18371)
• Citation: 57 Conn. App. 189,752 A.2d 1098
• Court: Connecticut Court of Appeals
• Parties: JACQUES ALL TRADES CORPORATION v. LAVERNE BROWN ET AL.

57 Conn. App. 189

752 A.2d 1098

JACQUES ALL TRADES CORPORATION v. LAVERNE BROWN ET AL.

(AC 18371)

Appellate Court of Connecticut.

Argued December 9, 1999.

Officially released April 4, 2000.

Schaller, Hennessy and Mihalakos, Js. Mark E. Anziano, with whom, on the brief, were Joseph C. Morelli and Stephen P. Bertucio, for the appellant-appellee (plaintiff).

Seth Jacoby, with whom was George M. Purtill, for the appellee-appellant (named defendant).

Opinion

MIHALAKOS, J.

The plaintiff, Jacques All Trades Corporation (Jacques), appeals from the judgment of the trial court awarding the named defendant, Laverne Brown, attorney's fees on her counterclaim that alleged a violation of the Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act (CUTPA), General Statutes § 42-110a et seq., where the court concluded that Jacques had violated CUTPA but found that Brown did not suffer any actual damages. Brown, in turn, cross appeals, claiming that the court improperly (1) calculated attorney's fees on her CUTPA counterclaim by not awarding fees for those claims that were novel and (2) denied her motion for attorney's fees pursuant to General Statutes § 42-150bb.¹ This case is presently before us following a hearing in the trial court, held pursuant to a remand by this court; Jacques All Trades Corp. v. Brown, 42 Conn. App. 124, 132, 679 A.2d 27 (1996), aff'd, 240 Conn. 654, 692 A.2d 809 (1997); to determine whether Brown was entitled to attorney's fees. The trial court awarded attorney's fees to Brown, and Jacques appealed to this court. Brown subsequently filed a cross appeal challenging the denial of certain attorney's fees. We affirm the judgment of the trial court as to Jacques' challenge to the award of attorney's fees on the CUTPA counterclaim and as to Brown's claim that those fees were improperly calculated. We reverse the judgment as to Brown's claim for attorney's fees pursuant to § 42-150bb and remand the case for a hearing as to that issue only.

Jacques had sought to collect payment pursuant to two separate contracts for improvements made in the summer of 1988 to Brown's home in Hartford. On August 10, 1988, Jacques and Brown entered into a contract (private contract) for certain work, in the amount of $6021, to be done on Brown's second floor bathroom. On August 26, 1988, Jacques entered into another contract (city contract) for home improvements, which provided for certain work by Jacques to be funded by a rehabilitation program operated by the city of Hartford (city), the other defendant in this case, for the base amount of $20,150. Brown and Jacques were required to use the contract form provided by the city and could not use a private contract form drawn by the contractor. On September 6, 1988, Brown agreed to the terms of the city contract.

A conflict arose regarding who would pay if any additional work had to be done to Brown's home. The city contends that if Brown wanted any additional work done, she would have to pay out of her pocket and would need a written agreement signed by her and Jacques. Jacques alleged that it came to an agreement with Brown regarding additional work and that this agreement was the private contract.

Additional work was required for improvements on Brown's house, including additional items Brown wanted that exceeded the terms of the city contract. In March, 1989, Jacques paid its subcontractors, and the work was inspected and approved by Brown and the city. Jacques was not paid for its services by Brown or the city.

Jacques brought an action for breach of contract against Brown and the city. On the first count of its complaint, Jacques sought to collect money from Brown for repair and remodeling services. The second count of the complaint was against the city, as stakeholder of certain funds. Brown, in turn, asserted a three count counterclaim, alleging that Jacques (1) breached the contract by failing to complete the work, (2) sought to collect money on a contract that was invalid under the Home Improvement Act (act), General Statutes § 20-418 et seq., and (3) violated the act by committing unfair trade practices pursuant to General Statutes § 42-110b.² The trial court rendered judgment for Brown on the first count of Jacques' complaint and against Brown on the counterclaim.

Both Jacques and Brown appealed from the court's judgment. This court reversed the judgment and remanded the case for a new trial, concluding that the trial court had misconstrued count one of the complaint when it failed to consider Brown's liability on the city contract as well as her liability on the private contract. It further concluded that absent the predicate liability of Brown to pay Jacques under the private contract, the city could not be liable to pay the claimed funds in its capacity as a stakeholder. See Jacques All Trades Corp. v. Brown, 33 Conn. App. 294, 635 A.2d 839 (1993).

Following the second trial, the court rendered judgment for Jacques and awarded Jacques the money held by the city, but not the additional damages that Jacques claimed were due under the private contract. The court also rendered judgment for Jacques on the breach of contract count in Brown's counterclaim. Although the court found that Jacques had violated CUTPA, it declined to award damages to Brown.

Again, both Jacques and Brown appealed from the court's decision. This court reversed the award to Jacques of the money held by the city and affirmed the denial of Jacques' claim for additional damages. See Jacques All Trades Corp. v. Brown, supra, 42 Conn. App. 124. This court concluded that the city was not a party to the agreements between Jacques and Brown, that the agreements were not exempt from the act pursuant to General Statutes § 20-428,³ and that Jacques could not recover the funds held by the city because the agreements were not enforceable under the act. Id. This court also affirmed the trial court's judgment in favor of Jacques on the breach of contract count in Brown's counterclaim and affirmed the trial court's decision not to award Brown damages on the CUTPA claim. Id. In addition, this court remanded the case with direction to the trial court to conduct an evidentiary hearing on the issue of whether Brown is entitled to attorney's fees with regard to the CUTPA claim. Id.

Jacques petitioned for certification to the Supreme Court, which was granted. Our Supreme Court affirmed the decision of this court. Jacques All Trades Corp. v. Brown, 240 Conn. 654, 692 A.2d 809 (1997). On July 28, 1997, pursuant to our remand, Brown moved for an award of attorney's fees pursuant to § 42-150bb.

The trial court, on October 18, 1997, ruled that Brown was not entitled to attorney's fees pursuant to § 42-150bb. The court further concluded that Brown was not entitled to attorney's fees claimed in regard to her first counterclaim, but was entitled to reasonable and necessary attorney's fees for services rendered solely to prosecute the CUTPA counterclaim in regard to the private contract. Furthermore, the court concluded that Jacques was not entitled to attorney's fees expended in defending against Brown's CUTPA claims regarding the first count of her counterclaim.

In February, 1998, an evidentiary hearing was held to determine the amount of attorney's fees. By memorandum of decision, dated March 16, 1998, the court awarded Brown attorney's fees in the amount of $19,413.50 for the work performed on the CUTPA counterclaim relating to the private contract. Jacques appealed and Brown cross appealed. Additional facts will be discussed when necessary.

I

Jacques claims that the court improperly awarded Brown attorney's fees of $19,413.50 on her counterclaim alleging a CUTPA violation when, although the court concluded that Jacques violated CUTPA, it found that Brown did not suffer any actual damages. The plaintiff contends that the court misinterpreted the reasoning of a line of cases in its decision and abused its discretion in awarding fees to Brown in that it did not take into consideration all relevant factors. We do not agree.

"[T]he trial court has broad discretion in determining whether damages are appropriate.... Its decision will not be disturbed on appeal absent a clear abuse of discretion." (Citation omitted; internal quotation marks omitted.) Elm City Cheese Co. v. Federico, 251 Conn. 59, 90, 752 A.2d 1037 (1999). General Statutes § 42-110g (d) provides in relevant part that "[i]n any action brought by a person under [CUTPA], the court may award, to the plaintiff, in addition to the relief provided in this section, costs and reasonable attorneys' fees based on the work reasonably performed by an attorney and not on the amount of recovery...."

This was already decided in Brown's previous appeal to this court, where she claimed that the trial court improperly denied her motion for attorney's fees without conducting a hearing on that motion. See Jacques All Trades Corp. v. Brown, supra, 42 Conn. App. 130. This court, in holding that Brown was entitled to an evidentiary hearing on the issue of attorney's fees, stated that "the trial court is not precluded from exercising [its] discretion even if it finds that the plaintiff has not suffered ascertainable damages." (Emphasis added.) Id., 131. Furthermore, this court went on to state that because "the awarding of attorney's fees and punitive damages is not determined by the amount of the award or the type of relief granted, there may be some evidence that is collateral or irrelevant to the merits of a claim of CUTPA violation or proof of damages, but nonetheless may be relevant to proving whether attorney's fees and punitive damages are warranted. This is such a case." Id.

This court then remanded the matter to the trial court for an evidentiary hearing to determine the amount of such an award, since the actual award of such fees rests entirely within the discretion of the trial court. Id., 132. In remanding the case, this court implicitly approved such an award...