The Connecticut Supreme Court will be asked to determine whether punitive damages are available for McCarter & English after a federal jury concluded that the firm’s former client was willful and malicious in breaching its contract when it stopped paying outstanding legal fees, a federal judge ruled last week.

Before a jury trial over the summer, U.S. District Judge Michael P. Shea of the District of Connecticut in part sided with McCarter & English on its breach-of-contract claim against the ex-client Jarrow Formulas for outstanding legal fees from its representation in a trade secrets lawsuit in Kentucky. The underlying litigation resulted in a $2.4 million verdict against Jarrow.