Opinion ID: 2557294
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: J & M's Appeal

Text: We next address J & M's appeal, which concerns the trial court's award of prejudgment interest. After the jury verdict was returned, J & M filed a motion for statutory prejudgment interest calculated from the date on which it filed its first action (August 3, 2000) or, alternatively, for statutory post-judgment interest calculated from the dates of the trial court's 2005 orders awarding it attorney's fees and costs (August 8, 2005, and November 14, 2005). See RSA 524:1-a, :1-b (2007); see also Nault v. N & L Dev. Co., 146 N.H. 35, 37, 39, 767 A.2d 406 (2001) (explaining that both pre- and post-judgment interest are available under RSA 524:1-a and RSA 524:1-b). The trial court awarded J & M prejudgment interest from the date of its 2008 writ against Smyjunas. J & M argues that the trial court erred by failing to award it prejudgment interest from 2000 or post-judgment interest from 2005. Resolving this issue requires that we engage in statutory interpretation. We are the final arbiter of the intent of the legislature as expressed in the words of the statute considered as a whole. Estate of Gordon-Couture v. Brown, 152 N.H. 265, 266, 876 A.2d 196 (2005). We first examine the language of the statute, and, where possible, ascribe the plain and ordinary meanings to the words used. Id. We first address the interest available as a result of J & M's 2000 action and 2005 judgments. J & M argues that RSA 524:1-b governs its entitlement to interest for its 2000 action and 2005 judgments. RSA 524:1-b provides: In all other civil proceedings at law or in equity in which a verdict is rendered or a finding is made for pecuniary damages to any party, whether for personal injuries, for wrongful death, for consequential damages, for damage to property, business or reputation, for any other type of loss for which damages are recognized, there shall be added forthwith by the clerk of court to the amount of damages interest thereon from the date of the writ or the filing of the petition to the date of judgment even though such interest brings the amount of the judgment beyond the maximum liability imposed by law. J & M's 2000 action was for injunctive relief for which the trial court awarded attorney's fees and costs. For the purposes of this discussion, because no party argues otherwise, we will assume without deciding that the attorney's fees and costs awarded J & M in its first action constituted pecuniary damages ... for ... [a] loss for which damages are recognized, and, therefore, that RSA 524:1-b governs the statutory interest available as a result of J & M's 2000 action and 2005 judgments. J & M asserts, in effect, that when the trial court issued its orders in 2005, interest was imposed automatically, by operation of law, from the date of J & M's 2000 writ against Gorham Supermarket until the date of payment. Smyjunas counters that in the context of J & M's case against him, the amount of the 2005 judgments, including any pre- or post-judgment interest, were elements of damages for J & M to prove. He argues, if [J & M] believed it was legally entitled to interest on [the 2005 judgments] per RSA 524:1-a, RSA 524:1-b or the common law, it was incumbent upon J & M to submit that claim to the jury. Here, he observes, J & M did not ask the jury for more than the amount of the 2005 judgments themselves ($110,007.01). He contends that any award of statutory interest on the 2005 judgments would improperly augment J & M's damages post-trial. We agree with Smyjunas that, in the context of this case, the amount of the 2005 judgments, including any pre- or post-judgment interest, were elements of damages for J & M to plead and prove. We further conclude that because J & M did neither, J & M is not entitled to pre-judgment interest from the date of its 2000 writ or to post-judgment interest from the date of the court's 2005 orders. The instant case is similar to Carbone v. Tierney, 151 N.H. 521, 535-36, 864 A.2d 308 (2004), in which we held that the interest that would have been awarded to the plaintiff had his attorney filed a successful lawsuit against his son and daughter-in-law was an element of damages to be proved. The plaintiff in Carbone hired the defendant to sue his son and daughter-in-law for the loss of his home and laboratory equipment. See Carbone, 151 N.H. at 523-24, 536, 864 A.2d 308. The defendant filed numerous lawsuits on the plaintiff's behalf, which were all dismissed because of the defendant's failure to comply with various court procedures. See id. at 524-26, 864 A.2d 308. Eventually, the plaintiff sued the defendant for legal malpractice, and received a jury verdict in his favor. Id. at 526, 864 A.2d 308. The trial court subsequently ordered interest to be added to the jury's verdict. Id. at 526-27, 864 A.2d 308; see RSA 524:1-b. The plaintiff also asked the trial court to award interest on the judgment that he would have received had the defendant filed a successful suit against his son and daughter-in-law. Id. at 536, 864 A.2d 308. The trial court declined, ruling that the plaintiff had failed to plead or prove his entitlement to such interest as an element of his damages. Id. We affirmed, concluding that how much interest the plaintiff would have obtained had the defendant filed a successful suit required resolving numerous factual issues, including when and where [the plaintiff] would have obtained [such] a judgment. Id. Because the plaintiff did not present any evidence to the jury, which would have allowed it to decide these factual issues, we ruled that the trial court correctly denied his motion. Id. Like the plaintiff in Carbone, J & M failed to plead and prove its entitlement to pre- and post-judgment interest relative to its 2000 writ against Gorham Supermarket. J & M did not present any evidence to the jury of its entitlement to interest on the 2005 judgments. The jury was instructed that J & M was awarded money in two orders, one dated August 8, 2005, and the other dated November 14, 2005, and was asked to decide the amount of damages to award J & M because of Gorham Supermarket's failure to abide by those orders. Because the jury was required to determine the amount of J & M's damages, and because J & M presented no evidence relating to interest, we conclude that the trial court in this case correctly denied J & M's request for pre-judgment interest from 2000 and for post-judgment interest from 2005. We next address the interest available as a result of J & M's 2008 action. J & M argues that its 2008 writ was an action on a debt and that RSA 524:1-a therefore applies. RSA 524:1-a provides: In the absence of a demand prior to the institution of suit, in any action on a debt or account stated or where liquidated damages are sought, interest shall commence to run from the time of the institution of suit. This statute shall be inapplicable where the party to be charged pays the money into court in accordance with the rules of the superior court. For the purposes of this discussion, we will assume that J & M's 2008 writ was an action on a debt or account stated or where liquidated damages [were] sought. RSA 524:1-a. J & M asserts that because it made a demand for payment of the 2005 Orders (the debt) shortly after the 2005 Orders were made, it is entitled to interest under RSA 524:1-a from the date of its 2005 demand. Under RSA 524:1-a, if a demand has been made before suit, interest accrues from the time of the demand; if no demand has been made, it accrues from the time of the institution of suit. In re Estate of Ward, 129 N.H. 4, 12, 523 A.2d 28 (1986). Here, although J & M asserts in its brief that it made a demand for payment shortly after the trial court's 2005 orders, nothing in the record on appeal demonstrates that such a demand was made. Accordingly, we cannot disturb the trial court's implied finding that J & M did not make a demand before instituting suit, and, therefore, that interest was available only from the date on which J & M initiated the current lawsuit, and not from the date of its alleged 2005 demand. For all of the above reasons, therefore, we affirm the trial court's decision to award J & M prejudgment interest from the date of its 2008 writ against Smyjunas. We have reviewed J & M's remaining arguments and hold that they lack merit and warrant no extended consideration. Vogel v. Vogel, 137 N.H. 321, 322, 627 A.2d 595 (1993). Affirmed.