Rozbicki v. Sconyers

Citations

• 198 Conn. App. 767

Syllabus

The plaintiff sought to recover damages, including treble damages pursuant to statute (§ 52-568), for vexatious litigation, alleging that the defendants had filed special defenses and brought a counterclaim against him with- out probable cause and with malicious intent. In a prior civil action, the defendants L and his building company, L Co., had retained the plaintiff to defend them in that action. During the course of his represen- tation by the plaintiff, L contacted his insurance company to inquire about providing a defense for L and L Co. in the civil action pursuant to their liability insurance policy. The insurance company then engaged a law firm on L and L Co.'s behalf to defend them. The plaintiff later commenced an action against L and L Co. seeking to collect outstanding legal fees incurred for his services in the prior civil action. L and L Co. retained the services of the defendants S, an attorney, and the law firm in which he was a partner, A Co., to defend them in the collection action and, on the advice of S and A Co., L and L Co. filed an answer, two special defenses and a counterclaim sounding in legal malpractice against the plaintiff, alleging, inter alia, that the plaintiff had neglected to inquire of L's insurance company whether defense coverage was available for the prior civil action and failed to inform L of the insurance carrier's obligation to defend. The plaintiff and L and L Co. reached a settlement in the collection action, and the counterclaim was withdrawn. The trial court thereafter granted the separate motions for summary judgment filed by S and A Co. and L and L Co. in the vexatious litigation action. On appeal, the plaintiff alleged that the trial court improperly rendered summary judgment on the grounds that the defendants had probable cause to assert special defenses and file a counterclaim against the plaintiff in the collection action and L and L Co. relied in good faith on the advice of S and A Co. in asserting the special