Connecticut Business Litigation Blog : Connecticut Business Lawyer & Attorney : N. Kane Bennett : Raymond & Bennett Law Firm : Hartford, Middletown, Glastonbury

Imagine your company is so busy preparing for a board meeting that a secretary sets aside paperwork from a recently served lawsuit for a billion dollars over trade secrets.  Imagine further that your company bureaucracy fails to put it together that a lawsuit has been filed until such a time that your company becomes defaulted in the case, to the tune of $1.26 billion dollars.  Ouch. 

Well, that is exactly what happened at PepsiCo according to a report by Lynne Marek in the National Law Journal.  According to the story, PepsiCo for various reasons, failed to realize a lawsuit had been filed or a motion for default until it was too late.  The case involved allegations that PepsiCo stole trade secrets and ideas for Aqaufina from two Wisconsin men.  When the suit went unnoticed,  a Wisconsin state court judge granted a motion for default against PepsiCo.

Marek writes that PepsiCo is trying to undo the damage and vacate the default.  Perhaps PepsiCo can vacate the default, but if not, it is a devastating blow in litigation to lose your liability defenses. By all accounts PepsiCo indicates the lawsuit is questionable suggesting numerous defenses exist.  Unfortunately, it appears there is a chance they may never get to assert the defenses.

In Connecticut, if you are defaulted for failing to respond to a lawsuit and a default judgment enters against you, you also can lose the ability to defend against the allegations in the complaint.  If you further fail to appear in the case before the court determines the amount of damages (usually at a hearing), then you may also lose your ability to defend against damages claims. Of course, there are various ways to avoid a default judgment (such as filing an appearance before judgment enters), but if a lawsuit is ignored too long, you could face a similar fate as PepsiCo.

To avoid the PepsiCo disaster, Connecticut businesses should have a policy in place to handle all matters related to litigation or lawsuits.  A business should designate one person that all staff can refer litigation issues, lawsuit papers or any other documents.  Lawsuits should be given immediate attention so as to not miss any deadlines. 

In state court, deadlines can determined from civil summons or cover page of the lawsuit. 

• A defendant has to file an appearance within 2 days of the return date listed on the civil summons
• A defendant also has 30 days from the return date to file a responsive pleading to the complaint . 

These deadlines should not be ignored.  Although there are methods for vacating a default, even a frivolous lawsuit can end in a judgment if ignored for too long.

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After making national news, Stamford Marriott Hotel & Spa has requested that its attorneys withdraw a special defense in a case involving a rape in its hotel parking garage. 

In 2006, a 40 year old woman was sexually assaulted in front of her two small children in the hotel's garage.  The assailant admitted the crime and was sentenced to prison.  As such, the rape was not in dispute.  The woman later sued and brought a complaint against the Marriott alleging various allegations of negligence. 

As detailed by Christian Nolan of The Connecticut Law Tribune, the attorneys representing Marriott raised two special defenses to the woman's complaint that caused a public backlash against Marriott.  Reportedly, Marriott's defenses included contributory negligence of the rape victim and failure to mitigate damages for the children. 

Marriott quickly changed its course and withdrew the defenses.   Marriott's withdrawal of the defenses may spare it further public relations problems, but the potential for an angry jury at trial could remain a problem. 

At least one Connecticut attorney estimated that a jury might very well award a premium for that type of defense if pursued at trial and not proved.  Although Marriott has now withdrawn the defenses, it could still become a problem at trial based on Connecticut law concerning withdrawn pleadings. 

In Connecticut, withdrawn pleadings are no longer judicial admissions by the party, but they can remain available at trial as an evidentiary admission.   If this matter goes to trial, Marriott will have various ways to argue against admissibility of the pleading, but the initial defenses could still wind up in front of a jury as an evidentiary admission.  Once in evidence, Marriott should get the chance to explain the circumstances of raising the defenses, which may help mitigate any damage done.

In high exposure cases, the decision to raise certain special defenses is not always easy or a formality as in some jurisdictions.  In Marriott's case, although it seems difficult to understand why the defenses were raised, we should not automatically assume there was no basis for it without knowing the full details.    Nevertheless, it appears Marriott did the right thing in withdrawing the defenses.

The rule on withdrawn pleadings serves as a reminder that withdrawing a claim in a pleading will not always prevent your opponent from using it against you in court.  As such, in Connecticut, business owners will want to consider the contents of certain pleadings filed in court because the pleadings could be used against the business as an admission. 

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One of the first things lawyers check for when contesting an oral contract is the statute of frauds.  The statute of frauds comes from an English rule dating back to the 1600's.  At its most basic level, the statute of frauds requires certain types of contracts to be in writing or else they are not enforceable in court actions.  However, sometimes, even when a contract is in writing, it still will not satisfy the statute of frauds.

That is what happened in SS-II, LLC v. Bridge Street Associates, an advanced opinion released today by the Connecticut Supreme Court.  The dispute involved an option to purchase property pursuant to a commercial lease that was in writing.  The tenant wanted to exercise the option and the seller did not want to close on the sale. 

When the tenant brought a lawsuit for specific performance trying to force the sale, the owner raised the Connecticut Statute of Frauds as a defense and won in court.  In Connecticut, the agreements that must be in writing under the statute of frauds include the following:

• any agreement by any executor promising to answer damages out of his own property
• any promise to answer for the debt, default or miscarriage of another
• any agreement made upon consideration of marriage
• any agreement for the sale of real property or any interest in or concerning real property
• any agreement that is not to be performed within one year 
• any agreement for a loan in an amount which exceeds fifty thousand dollars.

Not only do these agreements have to be in writing, but they also have to contain the contract's essential terms.  In a contract to sell land, the terms must describe a certain price, the parties to the contract, and the land.  In the SS-II case, the contract did not comply with the statute of frauds because the purchase price was not certain and was subject to some conditions.  Although there are counter defenses to the statute of frauds, such as partial performance, the court deemed that they did not apply. 

The takeaway from this case is to be cautious with oral contacts and do not assume a writing alone will make the agreement enforceable.  A contract has to be in writing, signed, and have the proper terms in it or else you may not have an enforceable agreement if the statute of frauds applies.  

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The Connecticut Judicial Branch will implement mandatory electronic filing in Connecticut state superior courts in all civil cases by December 5, 2009.  The Judicial Branch is also going paperless for short calendar and notices will no longer be sent by paper in the mail (unless the firm or litigant is exempt) starting September 1, 2009.

The mandatory e-filing will be implemented in phases as follows:

E-filing will be available in all remaining civil cases (with few exceptions) starting August 22, 2009.

E-filing is mandatory in all foreclosure cases starting September 1, 2009.

E-filing is mandatory in all remaining civil cases starting December 5, 2009.

Law firms and attorneys can receive e-filing training in each judicial district.

E-filing will be mandatory starting December in Connecticut in both state superior and federal district courts unless a law firm or litigant qualifies for an exemption.

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