Pursuit Partners, LLC v. Reed Smith, LLP

Citations

• 198 Conn. App. 1

Syllabus

The plaintiffs, M Co., O Co. and P Co., sought to recover damages from the defendant R Co., a law firm, for breach of contract for its alleged violation of a confidentiality provision of a settlement agreement executed by the plaintiffs and A Co., to which R Co. was a signatory. The plaintiffs and A Co. had executed a confidential settlement agreement to resolve certain litigation and arbitration proceedings. Thereafter, A Co. brought a related action, Alpha Beta Capital Partners, L.P. v. Pursuit Investment Management, LLC, (193 Conn. App. 381) (Alpha Beta), seeking damages for the alleged failure of the defendants, which included the plaintiffs in the present case, to provide A Co. with its proportionate share of the litigation proceeds secured by the settlement agreement. In Alpha Beta, the trial court found that the delayed payment of the proceeds to A Co. constituted a material breach of the settlement agreement by certain defendants in that action, relieving A Co. of its confidentiality obligations thereunder, and this court held that the court's finding was not clearly erroneous. Subsequently, the plaintiffs commenced this action against R Co., alleging that R Co. breached the confidentiality provision of the agreement when it communicated with S Co. in connection with litiga- tion involving the plaintiffs in the present case. The trial court granted the motion for summary judgment filed by R Co. on defensive collateral estoppel grounds, concluding that, in Alpha Beta, the defendants were determined to be the culpable parties, excusing further adherence to the confidentiality provisions by A Co., and, once the court had ruled in favor of A Co., it found that R Co.'s obligation pursuant to the confiden- tiality provisions of the agreement also was excused. Held: 1. The plaintiffs could not prevail on their claim that the trial court improperly concluded that R Co. was bound by the confidentiality provision of the settlement agreement only to the extent of its c