Mystic Oil Co. v. Shaukat, LLC

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Mystic Oil Co. v. Shaukat, LLC

MYSTIC OIL COMPANY, INC. v.
SHAUKAT, LLC, ET AL.
(AC 45832)
Moll, Cradle and Westbrook, Js.

Syllabus

The defendants, a gasoline retailer and its guarantor, appealed from the
trial court’s award of damages to the plaintiff, a wholesale petroleum dealer,
for breach of contract and breach of guarantee and from the grant of the
plaintiff’s motion for attorney’s fees and costs. The defendants claimed,
inter alia, that the trial court erred in awarding certain damages. Held:

This court declined to review the defendants’ unpreserved claim that they
were not liable for point of sale fees charged after the plaintiff had stopped
delivering fuel under the contract because the claim was inadequately briefed
and because the defendants failed to provide the trial court with an eviden-
tiary foundation to support their argument.

Contrary to the defendants’ assertions, there was sufficient evidence to
support the trial court’s damages determination with respect to the cost of
unpaid fuel deliveries.

The trial court did not err in awarding the plaintiff damages for the unreim-
bursed sales tax that it had prepaid or for the balance of the cost of two
fuel dispensers it had delivered because the court previously had granted
the plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment as to liability with respect to
those claims and the hearing in damages did not constitute an opportunity
for the defendants to attempt to undo the liability findings.

The trial court incorrectly granted the plaintiff’s motion for attorney’s fees
and costs because, in the absence of an evidentiary hearing, the defendants
were deprived of their ability to litigate fully the issue of the reasonableness
of the requested fees and costs.
Argued February 1—officially released September 17, 2024

Procedural History

Action to recover damages for, inter alia, breach of
contract, and for other relief, brought to the Superior
Court in the judicial district of New London, where
the plaintiff withdrew its claims against the defendant
Mohammad Sohail; thereafter, the court, S. Murphy,
J., granted in part the plaintiff’s motion for summary
judgment as to liability only; subsequently, the matter
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Mystic Oil Co. v. Shaukat, LLC

was tried to the court, Jacobs, J.; judgment for the
plaintiff, from which the named defendant et al.
appealed to this court; thereafter, the court, Jacobs, J.,
granted the plaintiff’s motion for attorney’s fees, and
the named defendant et al. filed an amended appeal.
Reversed in part; judgment directed; further proceed-
ings.
S. Zaid Hassan, for the appellants (named defendant
et al.).
Richard S. Gora, for the appellee (plaintiff).
Opinion

MOLL, J. The defendants Shaukat, LLC (Shaukat),
and Raja Shaukat Ali appeal from the judgment of the
trial court rendered after a hearing in damages following
the rendering of summary judgment as to liability only
in favor of the plaintiff, Mystic Oil Company, Inc., with
respect to its claims for breach of contract and breach
of guarantee.1 Specifically, the defendants challenge on
appeal (1) the court’s award of certain damages and
(2) the court’s granting of the plaintiff’s motion for
attorney’s fees and costs without an evidentiary hear-
ing. We affirm in part and reverse in part the judgment
of the trial court.
The court found the following relevant facts. The
plaintiff is a wholesale petroleum distributor of Exxon-
Mobil branded products located in Mystic.2 On June 9,
2015, the plaintiff entered into a ‘‘Complete Contract
of Sale (Branded),’’ as well as a commodity schedule
incorporated therein (contract), with Shaukat, a gaso-
line retailer formerly operating in Owego, New York,
1
The plaintiff’s complaint also named Mohammad Sohail as a defendant.
The plaintiff subsequently withdrew its claims against Sohail. For this reason,
we refer to Shaukat and Ali as the defendants.
2
To be consistent with the references used by the parties and the trial
court, we will refer to the ‘‘Mobil’’ brand throughout this opinion.
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Mystic Oil Co. v. Shaukat, LLC

pursuant to which the plaintiff would, for a ten year
term beginning on June 9, 2015, and ending on June 8,
2025, be the exclusive supplier of Shaukat’s motor fuel
product requirements. The contract was guaranteed by
Shaukat’s principal, Ali. Under the terms of the contract,
as stated in paragraph 5 of the commodity schedule,
‘‘[t]he [plaintiff’s] price per gallon to be paid by [Shau-
kat] shall be [Mobil’s] posted per gallon terminal price
(‘Rack’) at the applicable terminal in effect at the time
loading commences, plus all applicable taxes and all
fees . . . .’’
Shaukat failed to pay for deliveries from the plaintiff
on October 10, 17 and 24, 2017. The total amount of
the unpaid invoices was $46,496.98, comprising
$43,648.21 for unpaid fuel deliveries and $2848.77 in
unpaid point of sale (POS) fees, namely, ‘‘Cybera POS’’
fees, ‘‘Gilbarco Plus’’ fees, and ‘‘Mobil POS’’ fees.3
The plaintiff prepaid New York sales tax on its fuel
deliveries to Shaukat, which was obligated to reimburse
the plaintiff for such prepayments pursuant to para-
graph 10 of the contract, which provides in relevant
part: ‘‘Taxes. It is agreed that any duty, tax, fee or other
charge [the plaintiff] may be required to collect or pay
under any law . . . with respect to the . . . sale, deliv-
ery or use of the product(s) covered by this [c]ontract
shall be added to the prices to be paid by [Shaukat]
for product(s) purchased hereunder.’’ Shaukat failed to
reimburse the plaintiff for prepaid sales tax in the
amount of $12,829.52.
The plaintiff delivered two fuel dispensers to Shau-
kat, the total cost of which was $14,000. Of that amount,
3
The plaintiff’s principal, Peter Zelken, testified at trial that (1) Cybera
POS fees relate to an Internet communication device that allows the gasoline
station to have highspeed credit card processing, (2) Gilbarco Plus fees
relate to ‘‘the helpdesk’’ for the station’s POS system, as required by Mobil,
and (3) Mobil POS fees are Mobil’s monthly merchant card processing fees.
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Shaukat paid $6613.58 in accordance with an amortiza-
tion schedule, leaving a balance of $7386.42.
In February, 2018, the plaintiff commenced this
action against the defendants. The complaint consisted
of five counts: (1) breach of contract as to Shaukat
(count one); (2) breach of guarantee as to Ali (count
two); (3) unjust enrichment as to both defendants
(count three); (4) breach of the implied covenant of
good faith and fair dealing as to both defendants (count
four); and (5) violation of the Connecticut Unfair Trade
Practices Act (CUTPA), General Statutes § 42-110a et
seq., as to both defendants (count five). On July 30,
2019, the plaintiff filed a motion for summary judgment
directed to all counts, to which the defendants objected.
On June 16, 2020, the court, S. Murphy, J., granted
in part and denied in part the plaintiff’s motion for
summary judgment. Specifically, the court granted the
motion with respect to counts one and two as to liability
only. The court concluded: ‘‘Regarding the plaintiff’s
claims at count one and two, there exists no genuine
issue [of] material fact that, on June 9, 2015, the plaintiff
. . . entered into an agreement with [Shaukat] for the
purchase and delivery of fuel with a ten year term and
payment provisions. Further, there is no issue of mate-
rial fact that the contract included, among other things,
a certain commodity schedule and an exclusivity provi-
sion concerning the supply of the motor fuel at issue.
Further, there is no issue of material fact that [Ali]
signed a personal guarantee as to [Shaukat’s] perfor-
mance of the terms and condition[s] of the contract.
There is no issue of material fact that the plaintiff per-
formed its obligations under the agreement and that
[Shaukat] has violated the exclusivity provision and has
failed to make payment to the plaintiff in accordance
with the terms and conditions of the agreement. Addi-
tionally, there is no issue of material fact that [Ali]
has failed to perform in accordance with the executed
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Mystic Oil Co. v. Shaukat, LLC

guarantee and that, as a result of the breach of contract
and breach of guarantee, the plaintiff has sustained
damages. The court does, however, find issues of mate-
rial fact concerning the actual amount of recoverable
damages incurred as a result of the breach of contract
and guarantee under counts one and two. As such,
summary judgment is granted in favor of the plaintiff
as a matter of law only as to breach of contract and
breach of guarantee at counts one and two.’’4

A bench trial, which was essentially a hearing in dam-
ages on counts one and two, took place on August 4 and
5, 2022.5 At trial, in support of its contractual damages
claims, the plaintiff sought to prove, inter alia, that
Shaukat (and Ali as guarantor) owed the plaintiff (1)
$46,496.98 in unpaid fuel deliveries and POS fees, (2)
pursuant to paragraph 10 of the contract, $12,829.52 in
unreimbursed sales tax on fuel deliveries, which the
plaintiff had prepaid to the state of New York, (3) a
$7386.42 balance for the cost of two fuel dispensers,
and (4) $21,191.60 for brand incentive/brand growth
programs. The president and chief executive officer of
the plaintiff, Peter Zelken, testified for the plaintiff;
Shaukat’s principal, Ali, testified for Shaukat. The court,
Jacobs, J., concluded that the plaintiff had met its bur-
den to prove its first three claims for damages, but not
4
The court also stated that, in light of its conclusion as to count one, it
would not reach the plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment as to the
plaintiff’s unjust enrichment claim in count three. In addition, the court
found that the plaintiff had not sustained its burden as to counts four (breach
of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing) and five (CUTPA),
whereupon it denied the plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment as to
those counts.
5
In its memorandum of decision, the court stated that counts three through
five were abandoned at trial. We note that count three is deemed abandoned
because the plaintiff did not address it in its posttrial brief; see Nation
Electrical Contracting, LLC v. St. Dimitrie Romanian Orthodox Church,
144 Conn. App. 808, 814 n.6, 74 A.3d 474 (2013); and counts four and five
were expressly abandoned at trial.
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the fourth. Thus, the court rendered judgment for the
6

plaintiff in the amount of $68,712.92.7
On October 3, 2022, the plaintiff filed a motion for
attorney’s fees and costs, seeking an award of trial
related, contractual attorney’s fees and costs in the
amount of $21,550. On October 17, 2022, the court
granted the plaintiff’s motion and awarded the amount
of $21,550. This amended appeal followed.8 Additional
facts and procedural history will be provided as neces-
sary.
I
The defendants challenge on appeal four categories
of damages awarded by the court, namely, (1) POS fees
charged after the plaintiff had stopped delivering motor
fuel products to Shaukat, (2) unpaid fuel deliveries, (3)
unreimbursed sales tax that the plaintiff had prepaid
to the state of New York, and (4) the balance of the
cost of two fuel dispensers.
Before reaching the defendants’ claims with respect
to each of these categories, we briefly address the appli-
cable standard of review. ‘‘Our standard of review appli-
cable to challenges to damages awards is well settled.
. . . [T]he trial court has broad discretion in determin-
ing damages. . . . The determination of damages
involves a question of fact that will not be overturned
unless it is clearly erroneous. . . . [If], however, a dam-
ages award is challenged on the basis of a question of
6
The court expressly found Zelken’s testimony to be credible on the
plaintiff’s damages claims for (1) unpaid fuel deliveries and associated fees,
(2) prepaid sales taxes, and (3) the balance of the cost of two fuel dispensers.
7
The court appears to have made a mathematical error in calculating the
sum of the proven damages amounts. The correct amount of damages should
be $66,712.92. Although not raised by the parties, the error is clearly technical
and not substantive, and, thus, we will direct its correction on remand. See
Greco v. Morcaldi, 145 Conn. 685, 690–91, 146 A.2d 589 (1958); Amwax
Corp. v. Chadwick, 28 Conn. App. 739, 741 n.1, 612 A.2d 127 (1992).
8
The plaintiff did not file a cross appeal.
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law, our review [of that question] is plenary.’’ (Internal
quotation marks omitted.) RCN Capital, LLC v. Chicago
Title Ins. Co., 196 Conn. App. 518, 523, 230 A.3d 740
(2020).
A
The defendants first claim that the court erred in
awarding the plaintiff $2848.77 for POS fees charged
after the plaintiff had stopped delivering motor fuel
products to Shaukat.9 This claim fails.
By way of background, on the basis of the figures
reflected on a business record generated by the plain-
tiff’s accounting system, which was admitted in full as
plaintiff’s exhibit 5, Zelken testified to the amount of
POS fees that were due and owing from the defendants,
namely, $2848.77. Zelken testified that the plaintiff had
incurred those fees as part of its Mobil franchise—
testimony that the trial court expressly credited.
On appeal, the defendants do not contend that there
was insufficient evidence to support the court’s dam-
ages determination as to POS fees. Rather, they argue,
without any citation to the record or any legal authority,
that they are not liable for any POS fees charged after
the plaintiff had stopped delivering motor fuel products
to Shaukat. The defendants’ argument in this regard is
little more than the ipse dixit of counsel, and, therefore,
the argument initially fails because of inadequate brief-
ing. The argument suffers from an equally fatal flaw,
illuminated by our review of the record, which is that,
by failing to provide the trial court with an evidentiary
foundation to support their present argument, the
defendants did not preserve their claim on appeal. Thus,
we decline to review it further.
B
The defendants next claim that the court erred in
awarding the plaintiff $43,648.21 for unpaid invoices
9
See footnote 3 of this opinion.
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for fuel deliveries on October 10, 17 and 24, 2017. Specif-
ically, the defendants argue that the evidence on which
the court relied to make this damages determination
was merely subjective and speculative and, therefore,
insufficient to support the award. This argument is
unavailing.
We set forth the well settled legal principles govern-
ing a claim of evidentiary insufficiency in this context.
‘‘Damages are recoverable only to the extent that the
evidence affords a sufficient basis for estimating their
amount in money with reasonable certainty. . . . [T]he
court must have evidence by which it can calculate the
damages, which is not merely subjective or speculative
. . . but which allows for some objective ascertain-
ment of the amount. . . . This certainly does not mean
that mathematical exactitude is a precondition to an
award of damages, but we do require that the evidence,
with such certainty as the nature of the particular case
may permit, lay a foundation [that] will enable the trier
to make a fair and reasonable estimate.’’ (Emphasis
omitted; internal quotation marks omitted.) Roach v.
Transwaste, Inc., 347 Conn. 405, 412, 297 A.3d 1004
(2023).
Mindful of these principles, we turn to whether the
evidence on which the court relied was sufficient to
satisfy the reasonable certainty standard of proof. In
the present action, Zelken testified that Shaukat had
failed to pay the invoices for fuel deliveries on October
10, 17 and 24, 2017. He based this testimony on plaintiff’s
exhibit 5, described previously in this opinion, which
reflected an amount due and owing of $43,648.21. The
court expressly credited this testimony and cited the
admitted exhibit in its memorandum of decision in cal-
culating its damages award for the unpaid fuel deliver-
ies, which is consistent with the figures set forth in
plaintiff’s exhibit 5.
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The defendants complain on appeal that this evidence
was insufficient because the business record admitted
at the hearing in damages was the same document that
the plaintiff had submitted in support of its motion for
summary judgment, which the court necessarily found
insufficient to entitle the plaintiff to an award of dam-
ages as a matter of law. In making this argument, the
defendants cite no authority, and we are not aware of
any, for the proposition that a business record submit-
ted in the summary judgment context—in which the
court does not weigh evidence—may not be sufficient
to prove damages to the satisfaction of the fact finder
at trial. See Augustine v. CNAPS, LLC, 199 Conn. App.
725, 733, 237 A.3d 60 (2020) (‘‘[T]he trial court does not
sit as the trier of fact when ruling on a motion for
summary judgment. . . . [Its] function is not to decide
issues of material fact, but rather to determine whether
any such issues exist.’’ (Internal quotation marks omit-
ted.)).
In sum, because there was sufficient evidence to sup-
port the court’s damages determination with respect to
the unpaid fuel deliveries, the court’s award of
$43,648.21 in connection therewith was not clearly erro-
neous.
C
The defendants next claim that the court erred in
awarding the plaintiff $12,829.52 for unreimbursed sales
tax that it prepaid to the state of New York. Although
not a model of clarity, the defendants’ claim distills into
three parts, namely, that they should not be held liable
for such amount because (1) Shaukat had no liability
to remit sales tax directly to the state of New York, (2)
it was not Shaukat’s fault that, at the time the plaintiff
stopped delivering to Shaukat, there was a balance of
unreimbursed prepaid sales tax, and (3) the contract
did not contemplate or permit the amortization of the
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Mystic Oil Co. v. Shaukat, LLC

amount due (i.e., the amount that the plaintiff volunta-
rily amortized, rather than requiring Shaukat to pay the
amount due in one lump sum). These contentions are
without merit and warrant little discussion.
Paragraph 10 of the contract provides in relevant
part: ‘‘Taxes. It is agreed that any duty, tax, fee or other
charge [the plaintiff] may be required to collect or pay
under any law . . . with respect to the . . . sale, deliv-
ery or use of the product(s) covered by this [c]ontract
shall be added to the prices to be paid by [Shaukat] for
product(s) purchased hereunder.’’ Relying on a busi-
ness record generated by the plaintiff showing the amor-
tization of the unreimbursed New York prepaid sales
tax, which was admitted in full, Zelken testified that,
pursuant to the obligation under paragraph 10 of the
contract, Shaukat owed the plaintiff the amount of
$12,829.52 in unreimbursed New York prepaid sales tax.
The trial court expressly credited this testimony.
On appeal, the defendants essentially challenge their
underlying liability for this component of the damages
award. In doing so, the defendants ignore that the court
rendered summary judgment in favor of the plaintiff as
to liability on counts one and two—a ruling that the
defendants do not challenge on appeal. That is, count
one of the complaint included the allegation that Shau-
kat’s failure to pay the plaintiff the amount of $12,829.52
for sales tax prepaid to the state of New York consti-
tuted a breach of contract. Count two, which incorpo-
rated the allegations of count one, alleged that Ali’s
failure to pay such amount constituted a breach of
guarantee. In its motion for summary judgment, sup-
ported by appropriate documents, the plaintiff specifi-
cally argued that it was entitled to judgment as a matter
of law on counts one and two, including with respect
to the unreimbursed prepaid sales tax in the amount
of $12,829.52. The court granted the plaintiff’s motion
with respect to counts one and two as to liability only,
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Mystic Oil Co. v. Shaukat, LLC

necessarily concluding that there was no genuine issue
of material fact that such a breach had occurred. Simply
stated, a hearing in damages is not an opportunity to
attempt to undo a liability finding made in the context
of summary judgment. See, e.g., Ninth RMA Partners,
L.P. v. Krass, 57 Conn. App. 1, 3–5, 746 A.2d 826 (defen-
dants improperly raised issue of liability at hearing in
damages following summary judgment as to liability
only rendered following defendants’ concession as to
liability), cert. denied, 253 Conn. 918, 755 A.2d 215
(2000).
In sum, we find no error in the court’s award to the
plaintiff of $12,829.52 for unreimbursed sales tax that
it prepaid to the state of New York.
D
The defendants also argue that the court erred in
awarding the plaintiff $7386.42 for the balance of the
cost of two fuel dispensers on the basis of an implied
contract theory10 when there was a written contract
between the parties, which, according to the defen-
dants, does not require Shaukat to pay for the fuel
dispensers. For the same reason that we rejected the
defendants’ claim with respect to the prepaid sales tax
discussed in part I C of this opinion, we reject this claim.
The defendants challenge on appeal their underlying
liability for this component of the damages award and
again ignore that the court rendered summary judgment
in favor of the plaintiff as to liability on counts one and
two. Count one of the complaint included the allegation
that Shaukat’s failure to pay the plaintiff the $7386 bal-
ance of the cost of two fuel dispensers constituted a
10
We need not resolve why the court, Jacobs, J., relied on an implied
contract theory in making its damages determination with respect to the
fuel dispensers when the court, S. Murphy, J., previously had found liability
relating thereto pursuant to the plaintiff’s breach of contract and breach of
guarantee claims in counts one and two.
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breach of contract. Count two, which incorporated the
allegations of count one, alleged that Ali’s failure to pay
such amount constituted a breach of guarantee. In its
motion for summary judgment, supported by appro-
priate documents, the plaintiff specifically argued that
it was entitled to judgment as a matter of law on counts
one and two, including with respect to the balance of
$7386 relating to the purchase and installation of two
fuel dispensers. Because the court granted the plaintiff’s
motion with respect to counts one and two as to liability
only, the court necessarily concluded that there was
no genuine issue of material fact that such a breach
had occurred. The hearing in damages did not provide
the defendants with an opportunity to attempt to undo
the liability finding made in the context of summary
judgment. See, e.g., id., 4–5.
Accordingly, we find no error in the court’s award
of $7386.42 for the balance of the cost of two fuel
dispensers.
II
Finally, the defendants claim that, because they
timely objected to the plaintiff’s motion for attorney’s
fees and costs and requested an evidentiary hearing
with respect thereto, the court incorrectly granted the
motion without conducting a hearing. We agree.
The record reveals the following additional facts and
procedural history that are relevant to our resolution
of this claim. Paragraph 33 of the contract provides
that ‘‘[the plaintiff] shall be entitled to recover from
[Shaukat] all reasonable [attorney’s] fees and other legal
costs incurred to secure or protect its rights under this
[c]ontract or enforce the terms thereof, whether at law
or in equity.’’ During trial, Zelken testified that the plain-
tiff had thus far incurred approximately $20,000 in attor-
ney’s fees to prosecute the action. In its posttrial brief,
the plaintiff maintained its claim that the judgment
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Mystic Oil Co. v. Shaukat, LLC

should include an award of attorney’s fees under para-
graph 33 of the contract and requested a briefing sched-
ule.

When the court issued its September 2, 2022 memo-
randum of decision, it stated that ‘‘[t]he case shall be
assigned for a postjudgment hearing on the plaintiff’s
claim for attorney’s fees.’’ On October 3, 2022, the plain-
tiff filed its motion for attorney’s fees and costs, seeking
an award of trial related, contractual attorney’s fees
and costs in the amount of $21,550. See Practice Book
§ 11-21. The plaintiff also filed an accompanying affida-
vit of Attorney Richard S. Gora, which provided a break-
down of the time spent, tasks, hourly rate, and fees
charged to support the amount requested, as well as
redacted billing invoices from Gora, LLC, to the plain-
tiff. The defendants subsequently filed an objection (1)
contending that the requested fees improperly included
time spent on claims that were not pursued and/or
were withdrawn and (2) indicating ‘‘ORAL ARGUMENT
REQUESTED. TESTIMONY REQUIRED.’’ On October
17, 2022, without having conducted a hearing, the court
granted the plaintiff’s motion for attorney’s fees and
costs, finding the request to be reasonable and neces-
sary and awarding the amount of $21,550.

On the question of whether the defendants were enti-
tled, under the circumstances of this case, to an eviden-
tiary hearing on the plaintiff’s motion for attorney’s fees
and costs, we find our Supreme Court’s decision in
Commission on Human Rights & Opportunities v.
Sullivan, 285 Conn. 208, 939 A.2d 541 (2008), to be
instructive. In Sullivan, a housing discrimination
action, the trial court found in favor of the plaintiffs,
the Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities
and a prospective tenant. Id., 210–11. On appeal, the
defendants claimed, inter alia, that the trial court
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Mystic Oil Co. v. Shaukat, LLC

improperly prevented them from fully litigating the rea-
sonableness of the plaintiff tenant’s request for statu-
tory attorney’s fees by precluding them from eliciting
the testimony of the billing attorney who had submitted
an affidavit and her billing records in support of the
request. Id., 235–36. The trial court had concluded that
the affidavit and billing records were sufficiently
detailed to allow a reasonableness determination, that
the records constituted prima facie evidence of the
reasonableness of the requested fees, and that ‘‘the
defendants had been free to challenge the reasonable-
ness of the requested fees through the submission of
their own affidavits and through the presentation of
expert testimony.’’ Id., 237.
The question presented to our Supreme Court in Sul-
livan was ‘‘whether a party opposing a request for attor-
ney’s fees has a right, during a hearing on the reason-
ableness of the requested fees, to question under oath
a billing attorney who has presented an affidavit in
support of those fees.’’ Id. In its analysis, the court
iterated its prior clarification of ‘‘the basis on which a
trial court may make a determination of the reasonable-
ness of requested attorney’s fees, [namely] that ‘more
than [a] trial court’s mere general knowledge is required
for an award of attorney’s fees.’ Smith v. Snyder, 267
Conn. 456, 472, 839 A.2d 589 (2004). The burden of
showing reasonableness rests on the party requesting
the fees, and ‘there is an undisputed requirement that
the reasonableness of attorney’s fees and costs must
be proven by an appropriate evidentiary showing.’ . . .
Id., 471. Specifically, [the court] concluded that ‘there
must be a clearly stated and described factual predicate
for the fees sought, apart from the trial court’s general
knowledge of what constitutes a reasonable fee.’ Id.,
477. That factual predicate must include ‘a statement
of the fees requested and a description of services ren-
dered.’ Id., 479.
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Mystic Oil Co. v. Shaukat, LLC

‘‘[The court] explained that imposing such a prelimi-
nary burden on the proponent of the fees ‘affords the
opposing party an opportunity to challenge the amount
requested at the appropriate time.’ Id. It was unneces-
sary in Smith for [the court] to consider what proce-
dural rights were encompassed by the opposing party’s
right to challenge the amount requested, because the
defendants in Smith had not opposed the plaintiffs’
request for attorney’s fees at trial. In the opinion, how-
ever, [the court] noted in dicta that when a party against
whom attorney’s fees are sought ‘affirmatively [objects]
to the submission of evidence in support of the request
for attorney’s fees’; id., 480 n.14; the opposing party is
entitled ‘to litigate fully the reasonableness of the fees
requested.’ Id., 479 n.14. [The court] illustrated this
point by citing [its] decision in Barco Auto Leasing
Corp. v. House, 202 Conn. 106, 121, 520 A.2d 162 (1987),
in which the defendants’ attorneys had submitted affida-
vits in support of the defendants’ request for attorney’s
fees. The trial court overruled the plaintiff’s objection
that expert testimony was necessary to determine the
value of reasonable attorney’s fees. [Id.] The [trial] court
did not admit the affidavits as evidence, but did allow
them to be included in the file, and instructed the parties
to address any further issues regarding attorney’s fees
in their briefs. Id. [Our Supreme Court] reversed the
judgment of the trial court, concluding that the court
had denied the plaintiff ‘the undisputed right to litigate
fully the reasonableness of the attorney’s fees . . . .’
Id.’’ Commission on Human Rights & Opportunities
v. Sullivan, supra, 285 Conn. 237–39.
The court in Sullivan proceeded to conclude
expressly ‘‘what was implicit, both in Smith and Barco
Auto Leasing Corp., namely, that the right to litigate
fully the reasonableness of attorney’s fees entitles the
opposing party to question under oath a billing attorney
who has submitted an affidavit in support of the
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Mystic Oil Co. v. Shaukat, LLC

requested fees, in order to challenge the reasonableness
of those fees. This rule will ensure that the party oppos-
ing the requested fees has available to it the most fair
and efficient means of challenging those fees, that is,
questioning under oath the very person on whom the
court relies in assessing the fees, the billing attorney.
It is not a sufficient substitute to limit the opposing party
to filing opposing affidavits or calling expert witnesses.
Allowing the challenging party this right will also aid
the court in making its determination regarding the
reasonableness of those fees. It would be inconsistent
with the placement of the burden on the requesting
party, and with [the court’s] statement in Smith that
an opposing party should have the right to litigate fully
the issue of reasonableness, to allow the requesting
party to present an affidavit by the billing attorney in
support of the reasonableness of the requested fees,
without allowing the opposing party to test that evi-
dence by questioning the affiant under oath.’’ Id., 239.
Applying Sullivan to the present action, we conclude
that, because the defendants had timely objected to the
plaintiff’s motion for attorney’s fees and costs and had
requested an evidentiary hearing, the trial court erred
in adjudicating the plaintiff’s motion without holding
such a hearing. In the absence of such a hearing, the
defendants were deprived of the ability to litigate fully
the issue of reasonableness of the requested fees and
costs.
The judgment is reversed only as to (1) the calculation
of the proven damages amounts; see footnote 7 of this
opinion; and (2) the award of attorney’s fees and costs,
and the case is remanded (1) with direction to render
judgment for the plaintiff in the amount of $66,712.92
and (2) for an evidentiary hearing limited to the issue
of the amount of attorney’s fees and costs; the judgment
is affirmed in all other respects.
In this opinion the other judges concurred.