Judge Gary Sharpe
Connecticut law firm Byrne & Storm’s (B&S) diversity action asserted claims of contract breach and account stated against Handel and Weldon House Inc. Those claims arose from its legal representation of Handel and Weldon House under engagement letters Handel signed on Sept. 1, 2009, and in June 2010. Handel’s wifeWeldon House’s owner/principalalso signed the June 2010 letter. In addition to affirmative defenses, defendants’ answer to B&S’s lawsuit seeking the $261,929 it claimed to be owned by them, raised counterclaims of fraud and overbilling, legal malpractice, res ipsa loquitur, and breaches of contract and fiduciary duty. Only partly granting B&S summary judgment, the court dismissed defendants’ legal malpractice counterclaim. The viability of a claim of negligence, on the part of B&S, regarding Byrne’s assurances about a counter suit, was extinguished by defendants’ settlement of the underlying action. Summary judgment on B&S’s contract breach claim was premature. B&S’s claimand defendants’ counterclaim of fraud and overbillingturned on whether defendants were overbilled by B&S, an issue on which defendants have not yet had the opportunity for discovery.