Carter v. Bowler

Citations

• 211 Conn. App. 119

Syllabus

The plaintiff sought damages for the alleged deprivation of his due process rights by the defendant, the statewide bar counsel for the Statewide Grievance Committee. The plaintiff had filed two grievance complaints with the committee against R, an attorney. In response to each complaint, the defendant sent a letter to the plaintiff stating that, after review, it was decided to dismiss the plaintiff's complaints without referring them to a grievance panel because the complaints did not allege facts that, if true, would violate the rules governing attorney conduct. The plaintiff alleged that the defendant violated his rights under the federal and state constitutions by dismissing his grievance complaints against R. The trial court granted the defendant's motion to dismiss on the ground of absolute immunity and the plaintiff appealed to this court. Held that the trial court properly dismissed the plaintiff's complaint as the defen- dant was entitled to absolute immunity because his actions in reviewing complaints of attorney misconduct were taken in a quasi-judicial capac- ity as part of a statewide grievance proceeding: the defendant acted at all times pursuant to the statutory (§ 51-90c) authority vested in his office and in accordance with the applicable rule of practice (§ 2-32), as the statewide bar counsel has the responsibility to exercise judgment and discretion, is vested with investigative authority, ascertains and determines facts, makes decisions affecting the personal or property rights of private persons, and makes binding orders and judgments to either dismiss a complaint or refer it to a grievance panel or an arbitration panel; moreover, because the Office of the Statewide Bar Counsel is a creature of statute entrusted with the responsibility for reviewing complaints of attorney misconduct, a sound public policy existed to recognize the statewide bar counsel's complete freedom of expression that a grant of absolute immunity provided; furthermore, the Of