PER CURIAM.
In this action related to the sale of certain real property, the defendant Edward L. Parker
The gravamen of the plaintiff's complaint was that the defendant, in representing the plaintiff as his real estate agent, had breached his fiduciary duties in connection with the plaintiff's attempt to purchase certain real property. Ultimately, the property was purchased by Kate Porch, who, at the time of the sale, was the defendant's fiancee and had a business relationship with him. By the conclusion of the court trial, the plaintiff was relying on the counts of his complaint alleging fraud, interference with business opportunity, breach of fiduciary duty, breach of contract, breach of the duty of good faith and fair dealing and a violation of Connecticut's Unfair Trade Practices Act (CUTPA), General Statutes § 42-110a et seq. In its memorandum of decision, the court set forth its findings of fact and concluded that, as to the defendant, the plaintiff had proven each of these causes of action. Turning to the issue of damages, however, the court concluded that the plaintiff had failed to sustain his burden of proving his damages to any reasonable degree of certainty. The court awarded the plaintiff nominal and punitive damages. Having concluded that the plaintiff had prevailed under his CUTPA claim, the court awarded the plaintiff $24,571.15 in attorney's fees and interest on the award of attorney's fees in the amount of $3576.47.
In its memorandum of decision, the court specified that it had relied on an affidavit and a billing statement submitted by the plaintiff's attorney, Michael F. Dowley. The defendant claims that the court improperly relied on these materials because they were submitted only by way
Our review the record reveals that, during the presentation of evidence on the final day of the trial, Dowley referred to the CUTPA count and informed the court that he had a prepared statement of his attorney's fees. Dowley indicated, however, that he still needed to redact a portion of that statement before offering it to the court. With regard to offering his statement of fees, Dowley stated: "I could do it a couple of different ways.... If the court feels that CUTPA [attorney's fees] would be due, I could file an affidavit with my stuff later on or before I rest with the witness. I wanted to get my bill in. I can do it a couple of different ways. I don't know what the court would prefer." The court replied: "I would just ... expunge that part and put it in. And then you're going to give me a brief on the CUTPA [claim]?" Dowley agreed, and the defendant did not object. Thereafter, on February 22, 2010, Dowley filed an affidavit and a detailed statement of attorney's fees with his posttrial brief. In his lengthy posttrial brief, filed on March 9, 2010, the defendant did not challenge the statement of attorney's fees or the method by which Dowley submitted such statement to the court.
Our resolution of the attorney's fee issue is guided by the analysis in Smith v. Snyder, 267 Conn. 456, 480-81, 839 A.2d 589 (2004). In Smith, the defendants claimed that the trial court improperly awarded the plaintiffs $20,000 in attorney's fees. Id., at 480, 839 A.2d 589. At trial, the plaintiffs in Smith had not presented evidence of attorney's fees but, in their post-damages hearing brief, merely had requested $25,000 in attorney's fees. Id. In resolving the claim on appeal, the Supreme Court announced a general rule that "when a court is presented with a claim for attorney's fees, the proponent must present to the court at the time of trial or, in the case of a default judgment, at the hearing in damages, a statement of the fees requested and a description of services rendered. Such a rule leaves no doubt about the burden on the party claiming attorney's fees and affords the opposing party an opportunity to challenge the amount requested at the appropriate time." Id., at 479, 839 A.2d 589.
Under the circumstances present in Smith, however, the court affirmed the court's award of attorney's fees. Id., at 480, 839 A.2d 589. The court's conclusion was based on the fact that "the defendants did not oppose or otherwise take any action in response to the plaintiffs' request for $25,000 in fees in their post-damages hearing brief." Id. The court reasoned that "once the plaintiffs ... did make such a request, the defendants should have objected or at least responded to that request. Had the defendants demonstrated any interest in objecting to the plaintiffs' request for attorney's fees, the trial court would have been obligated to grant the defendants an opportunity to be heard.... [A] reversal of the award ... is not justified in light of the defendants' failure, prior to this appeal, to interpose any objection whatsoever to the plaintiffs' request for attorney's fees. In other words, the defendants, in failing to object to the plaintiffs' request for attorney's fees, effectively acquiesced in that request, and, consequently,
In the present case, Dowley made clear during the presentation of evidence that the plaintiff intended to request attorney's fees and that he was going to submit a statement of his fees to the court for consideration. Thereafter, the plaintiff submitted a detailed statement of such fees along with an affidavit from Dowley regarding the same. Although he filed his posttrial brief after the plaintiff's filing, the defendant did not object to the submission of the statement of fees or its content. The first objection to the request for fees was made in this appeal. Under these circumstances, in which the defendant acquiesced in the submission of the statement of attorney's fees, we decline to grant relief with regard to this claim.
The judgment is affirmed.