Sophie F. Bronowiski Mulligan Irrevocable Trust v. Bridges, 44 A.3d 116 (2012)

Citation: Sophie F. Bronowiski Mulligan Irrevocable Trust v. Bridges, 44 A.3d 116 (2012)
Parent Document: Sophie F. Bronowiski Mulligan Irrevocable Trust v. Bridges, 44 A.3d 116 (2012)
Jurisdiction: Rhode Island (state)
Effective Date: 2012-04-10
Original Source: https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/2303150/sophie-f-bronowiski-mulligan-ir... ↗

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The plaintiff, the Sophie F. Bronowiski Mulligan Irrevocable Trust, appeals from a Superior Court judgment in its favor for $1,600, plus interest, in an action for breach of a residential lease agreement. The plaintiffs complaint alleged that the defendant, Todd Arthur Bridges, a Brown University graduate student, breached his lease agreement by painting over expensive historical wallpaper inside the plaintiffs nineteenth century building on Benefit Street in Providence and by failing to pay the last month’s rent. The trust’s complaint sought $1,600 in unpaid rent, $25,000 for repairs to the property, punitive damages, costs, and attorneys’ fees. After a bench trial in Providence County Superior Court, the trial justice found that the defendant breached the lease by painting portions of the premises, but she also ruled that the plaintiff had failed to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the trust had incurred damages that exceeded the amount of unpaid rent. The plaintiff timely appealed from that judgment, alleging three errors: (1) that the trial justice improperly forced Ronald A. Dwight, attorney and cotrustee for the trust, to withdraw from representation; (2) that the trial justice erred in her determination of damages; and (3) that the trial justice should have awarded attorneys’ fees in accordance with the lease agreement.

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