Harris v. Neale

Citations

• 197 Conn. App. 147

Syllabus

The plaintiffs, H, a minor, through his next friend, A, his mother, sought to recover damages allegedly sustained as a result of the defendants' negligence. Following certain noncompliance with discovery, the plain- tiffs' attorney sought and was granted a withdrawal from the case. Thereafter, A withdrew her claims. When H did not appear in court on the date trial was set to begin, the trial court rendered a judgment of dismissal. Subsequently, counsel appeared for H and filed a motion to open the judgment, which the trial court denied. H appealed to this court, claiming that the trial court abused its discretion in denying his motion to open. Held that the trial court did not properly exercise its discretion in denying H's motion to open the judgment, as H satisfied his burden of demonstrating that he was prevented by reasonable cause from prosecuting the action; the trial court's finding that H's negligence prevented him from prosecuting the action was clearly erroneous, and, to the contrary, the unique challenges H faced in the months leading up to the dismissal of his action, including that he, as a minor, lacked consistent familial support to enable him to prosecute his action and his relationship with A had broken down and was undisputedly plagued by conflict, established reasonable cause that prevented him, a minor allegedly suffering from a major neurocognitive disorder as a result of a traumatic brain injury, from prosecuting his action. Argued January 22—officially released April 28, 2020