Pizzoferrato v. Community Renewal Team, Inc.

Citations

• 211 Conn. App. 458

Syllabus

The plaintiff sought to recover damages for personal injuries that she alleg- edly sustained as a result of the defendant's negligence. The court referred the case to arbitration pursuant to statute (§ 52-549u). Following a hearing, the arbitrator issued a decision in favor of the defendant. Electronic notice of the decision was provided to the parties' counsel on that same day. Neither party filed a demand for a trial de novo within twenty days of when electronic notice was sent. Because a demand for a trial de novo was not filed within twenty days, the trial court rendered judgment in accordance with the arbitrator's decision. Thereafter, the court denied the plaintiff's motion to open and vacate the judgment, and the plaintiff appealed to this court, claiming that the court improp- erly denied her motion because the language of the applicable statute (§ 52-549z) and rule of practice (§ 23-66) require that notice of an arbitra- tor's decision be sent both electronically and by mail before it can become a judgment of the court, and notice was not sent by mail in the present case. Held that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying the plaintiff's motion to open and vacate the judgment: § 52- 549z does not provide that notice of an arbitrator's decision must be sent both electronically and by mail in order for the statutory twenty day period to commence, § 52-549z was amended after the judicial branch gave notice of its practice of sending only electronic notice of an arbitrator's decision unless counsel obtain an exclusion from the electronic services requirement, and Practice Book § 23-66 does not preclude electronic service of an arbitrator's decision; moreover, it was undisputed that both the plaintiff's and the defendant's counsel received electronic notice of the decision, neither counsel obtained an exclusion from the electronic services requirement, the plaintiff's counsel never argued that he was unaware of the court's practice of sending only