Speer v. Brown Jacobson P.C.

Citations

• 233 Conn. App. 833

Syllabus

The plaintiff appealed from the judgment of the trial court dismissing her quo warranto action challenging the qualifications of the defendant law firm and the defendant attorney to serve as corporation counsel for the defendant city. She claimed, inter alia, that the dismissal was a disproportionate sanc- tion for her failure to appear at the trial management conference. Held: This court declined to review the plaintiff's claim that the sanction of dis- missal was a disproportionately harsh sanction for her failure to attend the trial management conference, as the claim was inadequately briefed. The plaintiff's claim that the trial court abused its discretion in finding facts to conclude that a default existed or should have entered was unavailing, as the court did not make any factual findings as to the merits of the plaintiff's cause of action but, rather, entered a disciplinary dismissal on the ground that the plaintiff had failed to appear at the trial management conference. The plaintiff's claim that the trial court denied her procedural and substantive due process in dismissing her action without a hearing and notice pursuant to the rule of practice (§ 14-3) was misplaced, as the court entered a disciplinary dismissal for her failure to appear at the trial management conference, not for a failure to prosecute her action pursuant to Practice Book § 14-3. The trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying the plaintiff's motion for reconsideration, in which she claimed that COVID-19 symptoms excused her failure to appear at the trial management conference, as the court correctly determined that a motion for reconsideration was not the appro- priate vehicle because the plaintiff did not assert a misapprehension of the law or a misapprehension of the facts underlying the court's dismissal, and her argument setting forth new facts to excuse her failure to appear should have been raised in a motion to open pursuant to the rule of practice (§ 17-43). Argued May