Pearlman v. Gervolino

Citations

• 234 Conn. App. 18

Syllabus

The plaintiff landlord appealed from the trial court's judgment with respect to its award of attorney's fees and costs to the defendant tenant on the count of his counterclaim alleging violations of the Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act (CUTPA) (§ 42-110a et seq.) in connection with the plaintiff's handling of his security deposit. The plaintiff claimed that the court improp- erly awarded the defendant attorney's fees and costs for matters not author- ized under CUTPA. Held: The trial court abused its discretion in calculating the amount of attorney's fees and costs the defendant was entitled to recover, as pursuant to the statute (§ 42-110g (d)) providing for an award of attorney's fees and costs under CUTPA, such fees and costs are limited to work reasonably performed by an attorney related to the prosecution of a CUTPA claim and, on review of the defendant's affidavit, his request for attorney's fees included fees for matters unrelated thereto. Argued April 16—officially released July 29, 2025