In this breach of contract matter, the City of Lilburn the “City” appeals the jury’s award of attorney fees to Astra Group, Inc. “Astra”, arguing that the trial court erred in denying its motion for directed verdict and its motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict on that issue. For the reasons set forth below, we affirm. “The standard for granting motions for directed verdict and for j.n.o.v. is the same. They may be granted only when no conflict exists in the evidence and the evidence presented, with all reasonable inferences therefrom, demands a particular verdict.” Punctuation omitted. Wynn v. City of Warner Robins .1 “In reviewing the denial of both a motion for a directed verdict and a motion for j.n.o.v., this Court must construe the evidence in the light most favorable to the prevailing party and determine whether there is any evidence to support the jury’s verdict.” Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. v. Merritt .2
So construed, the record demonstrates that in 2003, the City hired a landscape architectural firm the “architect” to provide services on a project to renovate Lilburn City Park the “Park Project”. The landscape architectural request documents for the Park Project noted that the project would involve work above and within an inert landfill; however, the existence of the landfill was not disclosed in the pre-bid documents provided to contractors interested in working on the project. In a pre-bid meeting attended by Astra and other prospective contractors, the landfill was mentioned, but the City and the architect represented that based on tests performed by the architect, the specific work areas involving digging would not be affected by the landfill. However, these tests were never actually conducted. On November 17, 2003, the City and Astra entered into a contract for Astra to serve as the general contractor on the Park Project. Pursuant to the contract, the architect was the City’s “representative from the effective date of the Contract until final payment” and was also responsible for supervising Astra’s work and making recommendations to the City. The City, however, retained ultimate decision-making authority.
