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CONNECTICUT OPINIONS JULY 6, 2020 ¦ 31

Defendants filed an unopposed motion to CONTRACTUAL DISPUTES
strike this case from the jury docket and the
court granted it. The plaintiff then filed a Defendant Had Standing to Assert
motion to reargue with a document attached Claims of Wrongful Conduct Directed
that was captioned as an objection to the de- to Him Personally
fendants’ motion. The court granted plain-
tiff ’s motion to reargue; it recognized that
although procedurally it was not filed prop- CASE: Shaw v. Farley
erly, the current pandemic must be consid- COURT: Stamford/Norwalk J.D. at Stamford
DOC. NO.: CV19-6042928
ered when analyzing adherence to procedure. COURT OPINION BY: Povodator
The court noted that the opposition to de- DATE: June 15, 2020 • PAGES: 11
fendants’ motion was filed only four hours The court denied plaintiff ’s motion to dismiss
after the court’s order granting the motion defendant’s counterclaims, finding defendant’s
to strike, suggesting that it could have been a allegations of personal harm sufficient to sup-
work in progress at the time the court’s order port a finding of standing. The parties co-
was entered. owned a business. Defendant allegedly decided
to purchase plaintiff ’s 50 percent interest, but
failed to pay the full purchase price. Plaintiff
Failure to Serve Necessary Parties sued defendant for breach of contract, unjust
With Notice of Application for enrichment, and related claims. Defendant
filed counterclaims for breach of fiduciary
Release of Excess Funds Necessitated duty and Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices
Dismissal Act violation. Plaintiff moved to dismiss the
counterclaims, alleging that defendant lacked
CASE: Straub v. Town of Ridgefield standing to sue in his individual capacity for
COURT: Danbury J.D. at Danbury alleged harm to the company. The court denied
DOC. NO.: CV19-5015933 the motion to dismiss, rejecting plaintiff ’s alle-
COURT OPINION BY: Kowalski gation of lack of standing. Defendant asserted
DATE: June 10, 2020 • PAGES: 6
The court granted defendant’s motion to wrongful conduct directed at him personally,
strike due to misjoinder and nonjoinder, and including breach of a fiduciary duty allegedly
entered a judgment of dismissal. The tax col- owed him by plaintiff. Nonetheless, the court
lector for the Town of Ridgefield conducted a encouraged defendant to revise his counter-
tax sale of property jointly owned by plaintiff claims to identify and limit them to claims for
and Carole Straub. Bank of America, N.A., which he has standing.

also had an interest as lienholder. The sale CREDITORS’ AND DEBTORS’ RIGHTS
generated an overbid. The town deposited
the excess funds with the court clerk and sent
notices to plaintiff Carole Straub, and BofA. Transfer of Title Deprived Defendant of
Included in the notice was an advisement that Standing to Challenge Foreclosure
the town did not consent to being joined as a
defendant in any action relating to the excess CASE: Deutsche Bank Nat’l Trust Co. v. Davis
proceeds. Plaintiff filed an application for re- COURT: Hartford J.D. at Hartford
turn of the excess funds, naming the tax col- DOC. NO.: CV13-6046267
lector as the only defendant. The tax collec- COURT OPINION BY: Taylor
tor moved to strike for misjoinder. The court DATE: June 15, 2020 • PAGES: 12
granted the motion to strike, finding the tax
collector not to be a proper party to the ac- The court dismissed a motion for writ of au-
tion. The court further ordered dismissal of dita querela, finding that title to the subject
the application due to nonjoinder, finding property had passed to plaintiff, and that de-
fendant accordingly no longer had standing to
assert any claims with regard to the property.
that Carole Straub and BofA, because of their Following entry of a default judgment of fore-
interests in the excess proceeds, were both closure by sale, defendant moved to vacate the
necessary parties. The failure to serve them judgment for purposes of a short sale. The mo-
with notice of the application necessitated tion was denied. A committee deed conveying
dismissal. title to plaintiff was submitted to the court for

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