LLC v. Harry Terdjanian (2011)

MEMORANDUM OF DECISION ON PLAINTIFF'S REQUEST FOR INTEREST, ATTORNEYS FEES AND COSTS

The plaintiff having recovered an amount greater than the sum certain specified in its offer of compromise of $5,000.00, the court will add 8% annual interest to the amount recovered, $15,401.85, pursuant to General Statutes § 52–192a and Practice Book § 17–18.   The amount of interest is computed from the date the offer of compromise was filed, April 21, 2010, to April 4, 2011, the date on which the court conducted a hearing on the plaintiff's request for interest and attorneys fees, a period of 348 days.   The amount of interest due the plaintiff is $1,174.76.¹

The plaintiff is also entitled to its “costs, together with reasonable attorneys fees,” pursuant to General Statutes § 52–251a.

In considering the amount of such an award the court has kept in mind the twelve factors a court normally applies in determining a reasonable attorneys fee.   See Jacques All Trades Corp. v. Brown, 57 Conn.App. 189, 198 (2000).   While this was a straightforward matter when filed in the small claims court, the defendant's transfer of the case to the regular docket increased its complexity several fold.   First, it precipitated extensive motion practice.   Second, it required resolution of legal issues involving the determination of who were the proper parties to the action.   Third, it necessitated a trial extending over parts of three days, when the matter could have been disposed of in the small claims court in a single, brief hearing.   So, the court has found particularly relevant the following factors:  the time and labor required of plaintiff's counsel, the difficulty of the questions and the skill required to perform the legal service properly.

Furthermore, “(t)he applicability of § 52–251a distinguishes this case from others in which the particular award of attorneys fees at issue might be questionable.   The very purpose of § 52–251a is to deter similarly situated defendants from transferring a case from the small claims session and turning a relatively clear-cut case into a pitched legal battle.”  Krack v. Action Motors, 87 Conn.App. 687, 697 (2005).   That is an apt description of what happened here.   While the defendant was at pains at the hearing on April 4 to assure the court that the case had not been transferred in bad faith, and the court makes no finding to the contrary, the court does conclude that the defenses raised “border[ed] on the frivolous.”  Burns v. Bennett, 220 Conn. 162, 169 (1991).

Plaintiff's counsel submitted a detailed statement of the legal services rendered in prosecuting the plaintiff's case.   The court finds that the billing rate of $200 per hour for plaintiff's principal attorney is reasonable, and defendant made no claim to the contrary.²

In determining the fee to be awarded the court will start with the figure of $3,897.63;  in a pretrial memo submitted to the court on June 30, 2010 the plaintiff claimed to have incurred this amount of attorneys fees as of that date.   From that date till November 2010 plaintiff's principal attorney claimed attorneys fees of $11,060.00.   Given the fact that it was during this period that the trial was conducted, and numerous legal issues had to be addressed both during trial and in post-trial legal memoranda, the court does not find this amount to be inflated.

Given the amount at stake in the litigation, however, and the apparently limited means of the defendant, this does not appear to be a case in which he was using his “superior economic resources to take advantage of the plaintiff.”  Krack v. Action Motors, supra, 87 Conn.App. 695.

Having all these factors in mind, the court will award the plaintiff $10,000 as reasonable attorneys fees, as authorized by § 52–251a.   The court considers that the expenses claimed by the plaintiff are not properly part of an award under § 52–251a.

The amount of the judgment entered by the court on March 17, 2011 is increased to include interest of $1,174.76 and attorneys fees of $10,000.00.

Joseph M. Shortall

Judge Trial Referee

FOOTNOTES

FN1. $15,401.85 x .08/365 x 348..  FN1. $15,401.85 x .08/365 x 348.

FN2. Defendant also declined the opportunity to examine plaintiff's counsel on the reasonableness of his fee request..  FN2. Defendant also declined the opportunity to examine plaintiff's counsel on the reasonableness of his fee request.

Shortall, Joseph M., J.T.R.