" Id. "`When reviewing a trial court's ruling on a motion for summary judgment, we must decide whether the trial court erred in determining that there was no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.'" Eisele's Nursery Garden Center, Inc. v. Kirkegard, 37 Conn. App. 271, 275, 655 A.2d 1129 (1995). To recover on a theory of negligence, the plaintiffs must establish that the defendant owed a duty to them and that he breached that duty. Shore v. Stonington, 187 Conn. 147, 151, 444 A.2d 1379 (1982).

The doctrine of collateral estoppel is based on the public policy that a party should not be able to relitigate a matter which it already has had an opportunity to litigate. Mulligan v. Rioux, 229 Conn. 716, 751, 643 A.2d 1226 (1994); Eisele's Nursery and Garden Center, Inc. v. Kirkegard, 37 Conn. App. 271, 655 A.2d 1129 (1995). The defendants argue that although a different claim, the issue of the accounting of August Moran as of May 1988 was actually litigated and necessarily determined in the Prior Action. The court agrees.