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Benchmark Builders Inc. v. Schultz

The parties' contract allowed for an award of attorneys' fees to the defendants even though they recovered no monetary damages or other relief.

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This appeal comes to us from our grant of a petition for writ of certiorari from a decision of the Court of Appeals in Benchmark Builders, Inc. v. Schultz, 315 Ga. App. 64 726 SE2d 556 2012. For the reasons set forth below, we affirm the Court of Appeals’ decision.

As more fully set forth in the previous reported opinions in this case,1 Stephen and Elizabeth Schultz contracted with Benchmark Builders, Inc. for the construction of a home. The Schultzes refused to close because they claimed the home was not built in conformance with the contract and Benchmark sued for specific performance or, in the alternative, for money damages for breach of contract. The Schultzes answered and filed a counterclaim for breach of contract seeking money damages for the return of earnest money they had paid and also for the value of light fixtures they had purchased that had been installed in the home. They also sought attorney fees resulting from the alleged breach. At the completion of the trial, the jury returned a verdict form that found for the Schultzes both as to Benchmark’s claim and the Schultzes’ counterclaim. With respect to damages, the jury awarded the Schultzes zero dollars on the claim for light fixtures, zero dollars for return of the earnest money, and $16,555 on the claim for attorney fees. In Benchmark Builders, Inc. v. Schultz, supra, 315 Ga. 64 “Benchmark III”, the Court of Appeals held the Schultzes were entitled, as the “prevailing party” in the action, to the award of attorney fees pursuant to the parties’ contract and thus affirmed the award. We granted certiorari and posed the following question: Did the Court of Appeals err in finding that the parties’ contract allowed for an award of attorney fees to a party that recovered no money damages or other relief that it sought Compare Benchmark III with Magnetic Resonance Plus, Inc. v. Imaging Systems, Intl., 273 Ga. 525 543 SE2d 32 2001.

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