14 Conn. App. 161 | Conn. App. Ct. | 1988
The defendant appeals from the trial court’s judgment for the plaintiff in an action seeking full payment for work the plaintiff did installing a septic system and performing other plumbing work. The defendant claims that the trial court erred (1) in accepting opinion evidence regarding the standards of the state building code where it should have accepted the standards in the code as a matter of law, (2) in awarding attorney’s fees to the plaintiff in excess of 15 percent of the judgment in violation of General Statutes § 42-150aa (b) and in failing to award attorney’s fees to the defendant on his successful counterclaim. We find error in part.
It is well established that appellate courts will not retry facts or pass upon the credibility of. witnesses and the weight to be accorded the evidence. Parkview Paving Co. v. New Haven, 13 Conn. App. 574, 537 A.2d 1049 (1988). Our review in this appeal is limited to a determination of whether the trial court’s judgment was clearly erroneous in this respect or otherwise contrary to law. Id. After our careful review of the record and arguments with respect to the defendant’s first claim of error we find that the trial court did not err.
We next consider the defendant’s claim that the trial court erred in awarding attorney’s fees to the plaintiff and in denying the same to the defendant on his counterclaim. We agree.
General Statutes § 42-150aa
Similarly General Statutes § 42-150bb provides for the award of attorney’s fees for consumers who successfully prosecute or defend an action or a counterclaim based upon the contract and sets forth as follows: “Whenever any contract or lease entered into on or after October 1,1979, to which a consumer is a party,
There is error in part, the judgment is set aside only as to the amount of attorney’s fees awarded on the complaint and counterclaim, and the case is remanded for further proceedings not inconsistent with this opinion.
“[General Statutes] Sec. 42-150aa. attorney’s fees limited in actions ON CONSUMER contracts OR leases, (a) The holder of any contract or lease entered into on or after October 1,1979, the subject of which
“(b) If a lawsuit in which money damages are claimed is commenced by an attorney who is not a salaried employee of the holder of a contract or lease subject to the provisions of this section, such holder may receive or collect attorney’s fees, if not otherwise prohibited by law, of not more than fifteen per cent of the amount of any judgment which is entered.”