Elder v. Kauffman

Citations

• 204 Conn. App. 818

Syllabus

The plaintiff attorney sought damages from the defendant reporter, K, and the defendant publisher, C Co., for, inter alia, defamation in connection with articles written by K and published by C Co. The articles related to certain a disciplinary proceeding brought against the plaintiff in the Superior Court that resulted in his suspension from the practice of law for one year. Our Supreme Court reversed the order of the Superior Court on the ground that the proceeding was untimely commenced. The plaintiff alleged in this action that articles published by the defendants in 2015 after his suspension, and an article published in 2017 after our Supreme Court reversed that decision, were defamatory because they stated that he had ''impersonated'' another attorney. The trial court granted the defendants' special motion to dismiss the complaint filed pursuant to statute (§ 52-196a), holding that the publications were about a matter of public concern and that the plaintiff's complaint was barred by the doctrines of res judicata and collateral estoppel because he had previously raised these claims and issues in prior litigation in federal court and in state court. From the judgment rendered thereon, the plaintiff appealed to this court. Held: 1. The plaintiff's claim that the trial court erred in dismissing his complaint on the ground that it was barred by the doctrine of res judicata, which was based on his claim that res judicata does not apply to a special motion to dismiss, was unavailing: the application of the doctrine of res judicata to the present case necessarily would meet or exceed the proof requirements of § 52-196a (e) (3) because it would establish, as a matter of law, that the plaintiff could not establish that there was probable cause that he would prevail on the merits of the complaint; moreover, if the plaintiff unsuccessfully litigated in his prior actions an issue necessary to his success in this action, he would be precluded from relitigating that issue a