Miller v. Maurer

189 Conn.App. 769

208 A.3d 1249

Josephine S. MILLER

v.Elisabeth MAURER et al.

AC 40654

Appellate Court of Connecticut.

Argued January 9, 2019

Officially released May 7, 2019

Josephine S. Miller, self-represented, the appellant (plaintiff).

Elisabeth Seieroe Maurer, Ridgefield, self-represented, the appellee (defendant).

Prescott, Elgo and Harper, Js.

ELGO, J.

In this interpleader action, the plaintiff, Attorney Josephine S. Miller, appeals from the judgment of the trial court distributing the proceeds of a legal settlement between the plaintiff, the plaintiff's client, the defendant Lori Rodriguez, and Rodriguez' former legal counsel, the defendant Attorney Elisabeth Maurer.¹ On appeal, the plaintiff challenges (1) the court's finding that she was entitled to 15 percent of the settlement proceeds and (2) the court's determinations with respect to Maurer's entitlement to a portion of those proceeds. We dismiss the plaintiff's second claim for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, and affirm the judgment of the trial court in all other respects.

As the court found in its oral decision,² Rodriguez entered into a valid retainer agreement in 2005 with Maurer's law firm, Maurer & Associates, PC (law firm), which agreed to represent Rodriguez in connection with a sexual harassment complaint against her employer, the Bridgeport Housing Authority, and other defendants. Pursuant to the retainer agreement, Rodriguez agreed to pay the law firm a "contingency fee ... of one third of any recovery" from that action, plus costs.

The court also found that the law firm commenced a federal action on Rodriguez' behalf, "diligently and professionally represented Rodriguez in her claims against all defendants in that action," and "added good value to Rodriguez' claims by, among other things, commencing the action, successfully defending an early motion to dismiss and diligently prosecuting and responding to discovery requests in that action, including compiling and indexing Rodriguez' ... medical records in support of her claims." The court further found "no evidence of misconduct or professional negligence by anyone in the [law firm] or in its handling" of the action.

While that action was pending, Rodriguez discharged the law firm in December, 2012, and retained the plaintiff to represent her in that action. In releasing Rodriguez' file to the plaintiff, the law firm claimed a lien thereon. By letter dated January 10, 2013, Maurer notified the plaintiff that the law firm had expended significant resources on Rodriguez' behalf and, thus, was asserting a "lien against the file unless adequate protection of its interest in the case is provided in the form of a letter from you stating that you will hold settlement proceeds in escrow pending resolution of the fee dispute."

Rodriguez subsequently agreed to settle her claims against the Bridgeport Housing Authority and received a payment of $ 128,151.89 in exchange for the withdrawal of her claims. Upon receipt of those funds, the plaintiff disbursed $ 27,329 to Rodriguez and $ 4822 to herself; she later deposited the remaining $ 96,000 with the clerk of the Danbury Superior Court. This interpleader action followed to determine the proper distribution of the settlement proceeds.

In her complaint, the plaintiff alleged in relevant part that "there exists a genuine dispute regarding ownership of the $ 96,000 being held" by the court because Maurer "has claimed a lien of $ 96,000 for work done on the case ...." Pursuant to General Statutes § 52-484,³ the plaintiff therefore requested a judicial determination as to the amount "rightfully owned by each party." The defendants filed their respective answers and all three parties thereafter filed a statement of claim. The plaintiff claimed "a one-third share of the funds now held by the court, based upon the retainer agreement [she] had with [Rodriguez]." Rodriguez, by contrast, claimed that she was entitled to "all the monies awarded to [her] from the Bridgeport Housing Authority except for the 15 [percent] owed to" the plaintiff pursuant to their fee agreement. In her statement of claim, Maurer requested a "proportionate share of the contingency fee (i.e. $ 42,290.12) based on hours invested," in addition to "[out-of-pocket] expenses of $ 29,922.92."

A two day court trial was held in July, 2017, at which the plaintiff, Rodriguez, Maurer, and Christopher Avcollie, an attorney with the law firm, testified. Following closing arguments, the court delivered its decision from the bench. With respect to the plaintiff, the court found that she had agreed to a 15 percent fee for any recovery received by Rodriguez and thus concluded that the plaintiff was entitled to "15 percent of the gross amount recovered," which "equals $ 19,222.78." Because the plaintiff already had received $ 4822 in settlement proceeds, the court held that she was "entitled to an additional $ 14,400.78."⁴ With respect to Maurer, the court found that her law firm was "entitled to an equitable attorney's charging lien on the settlement proceeds" and "reasonable compensation for its services rendered" in the amount of $ 23,067.34, as well as $ 20,632 in costs. As a final matter, the court concluded that "[t]he balance of $ 37,899.88 is to be distributed to [Rodriguez]." From that judgment, the plaintiff now appeals.⁵

I

We first address the plaintiff's claim that the court improperly determined that she was entitled to 15 percent of the settlement proceeds. We disagree.

"It is well established that [i]n a case tried before a court, the trial judge is the sole arbiter of the credibility of the witnesses and the weight to be given specific testimony.... On appeal, we do not retry the facts or pass on the credibility of witnesses.... We afford great weight to the trial court's findings because of its function to weigh the evidence and determine credibility.... Thus, those findings are binding upon this court unless they are clearly erroneous in light of the evidence and the pleadings in the record as a whole.... A finding of fact is clearly erroneous when there is no evidence in the record to support it ... or when although there is evidence to support it, the reviewing court on the entire evidence is left with the definite and firm conviction that a mistake has been committed." (Citations omitted; internal quotation marks omitted.) De La Concha of Hartford, Inc. v. Aetna Life Ins. Co. , 269 Conn. 424, 431–32, 849 A.2d 382 (2004).

In the present case, the plaintiff introduced into evidence a retainer agreement with Rodriguez dated December 3, 2012, which, the court found, originally entitled the plaintiff to one third of any recovery. The court nevertheless found that the parties subsequently entered into a "later agreement ... whereby [the plaintiff] agreed to reduce her fee to 15 percent of any recovery." That determination finds ample support in the record before us.

In her complaint, the plaintiff averred in relevant part that "[b]ecause Rodriguez was not satisfied with the $ 128,000 settlement amount, [the] plaintiff had agreed to reduce her contingency fee."⁶ At trial, Rodriguez likewise testified that the plaintiff had agreed to reduce her fee to 15 percent of any recovery. That agreement also is memorialized in a letter that the plaintiff sent to Rodriguez dated October 18, 2016, which was admitted into evidence and captioned "RE: Rodriguez v. Bridgeport Housing Authority Settlement Proceeds." That letter states in full: "Dear [Rodriguez]: This will confirm that, as a courtesy to you, the fractured manner in which this case was handled, and because of the small amount of money that was left under the [Bridgeport] Housing Authority [i]nsurance policy, I agreed to reduce my fee to fifteen (15%). Sincerely, [the plaintiff]." The record also contains a letter that the plaintiff sent to an attorney with the local grievance panel regarding a grievance that Rodriguez had filed, in which the plaintiff states that "[b]ecause [Rodriguez] was not happy with the settlement amount, I voluntarily proposed to reduce my fee from [one third] to [15] percent." Furthermore, toward the end of the two day trial, the court indicated that it was "concerned from your perspective, Attorney Miller, on the 15 percent agreement." In responding to the court's concern, the plaintiff testified that she had volunteered to reduce her fee to 15 percent "in order to get [Rodriguez] to accept the settlement."⁷

The foregoing evidence substantiates the court's finding that the plaintiff was entitled to 15 percent of the settlement proceeds, and we are not left with a definite and firm conviction that a mistake has been made. We therefore conclude that the court's finding was not clearly erroneous.

II

We next consider the plaintiff's challenge to the court's determinations with respect to Maurer's entitlement to a portion of the settlement proceeds.⁸ The plaintiff maintains that the court erroneously found that Maurer was entitled to any settlement proceeds. In addition, the plaintiff claims that the court improperly applied the terms of the retainer agreement between the law firm and Rodriguez, rather than "principles of quantum meruit," in calculating the amount of those proceeds.⁹ In response, Maurer argues that the plaintiff lacks standing to raise those claims. We agree with Maurer.

It is well established that "a party must have standing to assert a claim in order for the court to have subject matter jurisdiction over the claim.... Standing is the legal right to set judicial machinery in motion. One cannot rightfully invoke the jurisdiction of the court unless he has, in an individual or representative capacity, some real interest in the cause of action, or a legal or equitable right, title or interest in the subject matter of the controversy.... [Our Supreme Court] has often stated that the question of subject matter jurisdiction, because it addresses the basic competency of the court, can be raised by any of the parties,...