Melissa Burke v. Conceptual Construction, Inc. (2011)

ARTICULATION

On July 13, 2010, J.T.R. Teller defaulted the defendant, Conceptual Construction Inc., for failure to appear for a pretrial conference scheduled for that date.   On July 19, 2010, the defendant moved to set aside the default, which motion was denied by J.T.R. Teller on September 9, 2010.   On September 16, 2010, the defendant moved for reargument and moved for articulation, and J.T.R. Teller denied both of those motions on September 21, 2010.

On November 3, 2010, a hearing in damages was held before this court which rendered judgment against the defendant.   On February 25, 2011, the defendant, represented by new counsel, moved to open the judgment, and this court denied that motion on March 28, 2011.   The court articulates its reasons for that denial.

In its February 25, 2011 motion to open the defendent asserts that its former counsel failed to apprise the defendant or its insurance carrier of the July 13, 2010 pretrial date;  that the defendant was defaulted for failing to appear for that pretrial;  and that judgment against the defendant had entered.   The court assumed that these factual allegations were true for purposes of the motion to open.

Former counsel's delinquencies, whether the result of neglect or malfeasance, fail to constitute reasonable cause under General Statutes § 52–212(a) or Practice Book § 17–43(a) to justify opening a judgment.  Nelson v. The Contracting Group, 127 Conn.App. 45, 49 (2011).   Therefore, the motion to open was denied on the basis claimed by the defendant.

Sferrazza, J.

Sferrazza, Samuel J., J.