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12 ¦ DECEMBER 21, 2020 NEWS

Plaintiffs Counsel Surprised by Connecticut
High Court’s About-Face in Denying Appeal

By Robert Storace

Plaintiffs counsel Steven Jacobs
was waiting eagerly Monday
to see whether the Connecti-
cut Supreme Court would rule in
his favor in taking an appeal from
the Connecticut Appellate Court
in the case of a client injured while
riding his bicycle over a speed
bump at the Quinnipiac University
campus.
What Jacobs got instead was
something he hadn’t seen in his
35 years as an attorney: The state’s
high court, in a two-page, 7-0 rul-
ing Monday afternoon, dismissed
Connecticut Supreme Court building in Hartford.

the appeal on the basis that certifi- Photo: Michael Marciano/ALM

cation had been improvidently granted. jury as “to the duty of care that a property owner
“It’s a head-scratcher,” said Jacobs, of Jacobs & Ja- owes a licensee,” using the legal argument that the
cobs Injury Lawyers in New Haven. “They accepted university consented to his presence on campus, and
it in the first place and, after a bunch of Supreme had a duty to warn that there was a speed bump in
Court justices reviewed the decision from Appellate the area.
and agreed to hear it, set briefings and heard ques- The Appellate Court disagreed. It ruled the speed
tions. … Six months later to say ‘we should not have bump was “visible on a clear and sunny day such
taken it up,’ is quite astonishing.” that it could not be considered a hidden, dangerous
Jacobs continued: “They could have decided the condition.” Klein then appealed to the Connecticut
case on the merits, and sure, I could have lost. But Supreme Court, which took the case.
they thought it was worth taking up. This amazes At the state’s high court, Klein claimed the Ap-
me.” pellate Court incorrectly concluded, by a 2-1 vote,
In their brief ruling, the justices wrote: “After ex- that the trial court didn’t err in failing to give the
amining the entire record on appeal and considering licensee instruction and that any error was harm-
the briefs and oral arguments of the parties, we have less.
determined that the appeal should be dismissed Judicial Branch spokeswoman Rhonda Hebert
on the ground that certification was improvidently said the state’s high court would have no comment
granted.” on its ruling on certification and why the justices
Plaintiff Daniel Klein initially sued Quinnipiac af- changed their minds.
ter fracturing his femura in the bicycling accident. Jacobs said that even though his client is in his
A Superior Court jury returned a verdict in favor mid-70s, his ability to enjoy biking and hiking,
of the university. In appealing the ruling, Klein said which he loves, was greatly diminished following
the Superior Court judge should have instructed the the June 2014 incident.

CONNECTICUT
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