Jackson v. Prince

Citations

• 231 Conn. App. 568

Syllabus

The plaintiff appealed from the judgment of the trial court, rendered follow- ing its granting of the defendants' motions to dismiss her breach of contract action for lack of personal jurisdiction due to, inter alia, insufficient process. The defendants J and M sold certain real property in Fairfield to the plaintiff, and the defendants Z and D were attorneys who represented the parties in the real estate transaction. In their motion to dismiss, J and M claimed, inter alia, that M was served in hand at their home, but that no copy was left for J, nor was he served in hand. Z and D claimed in separate motions that the plaintiff failed to effectuate proper service because the state marshal attempted to serve them by leaving a copy of the summons and complaint at their respective law firms, rather than serving them through in person or abode service, and they had not authorized anyone at their law offices to accept service on their behalf. On appeal, the plaintiff claimed that the court erred in, inter alia, concluding that it lacked personal jurisdiction over J and M on the basis of insufficiency of process and insufficient service. Held: The trial court erred in concluding that the plaintiff's designation of ''J and M'' on the summons form as one defendant, rather than listing J and M as separate individuals, deprived the court of personal jurisdiction over M and J pursuant to statute (§ 52-45a), as the designation of ''J and M'' was a circumstantial defect that could not reasonably have resulted in any confu- sion about their identities, J and M did not dispute that they received actual notice of the action, and they did not claim that they suffered any prejudice from the plaintiff's failure to list them separately. The trial court erred in dismissing the action as to J for insufficient service of process prior to holding an evidentiary hearing, as there was a factual dispute over whether the state marshal left a copy of the summons and complaint for J, and the cour