Chittenden Resorts, LLC d/b/a Mountain Top Inn and Resorts and Mountain Top Cross Country Ski Resort, and RMT Associates, LLC v. John Gerlach et al.

Summary

The Vermont Superior Court, Rutland Unit, granted Chittenden Resorts, LLC and RMT Associates, LLC supplemental attorneys’ fees incurred in defending an appeal from a contempt finding and prior fee award. Applying Vermont exceptions to the American Rule for contempt proceedings, the court ordered John Gerlach to pay $18,373 within 30 days.

Holdings

1. A request for attorneys' fees and other nontaxable expenses incurred on appeal must be brought in the superior court under Vermont Rule of Appellate Procedure 39(f) and Vermont Rule of Civil Procedure 54(d)(2). The Vermont Supreme Court's failure to address or provide guidance on the fee request did not bar the superior court from deciding it.
2. Attorneys' fees incurred in enforcing and defending a contempt order may be awarded as compensation to the complainant under the contempt exception to Vermont's American Rule, even absent statutory or contractual authorization.
3. Reasonable attorneys' fees incurred in defending an appeal necessary to complete a contempt proceeding are recoverable as compensation, not as punishment or coercion, when the appeal was required to secure enforcement of the trial court's order.

Questions Presented

1. Whether plaintiffs could seek appellate-related attorneys' fees in the superior court when the Vermont Supreme Court had not awarded or addressed those fees in its appellate decision.
2. Whether attorneys' fees could be awarded under the contempt exception to Vermont's American Rule despite the absence of a statutory or contractual fee entitlement.
3. Whether awarding supplemental attorneys' fees would be an impermissible disproportionate sanction or punishment for defendants' exercise of the right to appeal.

Disposition

other