Sec. 52-102b. Addition of person as defendant for apportionment of liability purposes.
Sec. 52-102b. Addition of person as defendant for apportionment of liability
purposes. (a) A defendant in any civil action to which section 52-572h applies may
serve a writ, summons and complaint upon a person not a party to the action who is or
may be liable pursuant to said section for a proportionate share of the plaintiff's damages
in which case the demand for relief shall seek an apportionment of liability. Any such
writ, summons and complaint, hereinafter called the apportionment complaint, shall be
served within one hundred twenty days of the return date specified in the plaintiff's
original complaint. The defendant filing an apportionment complaint shall serve a copy
of such apportionment complaint on all parties to the original action in accordance with
the rules of practice of the Superior Court on or before the return date specified in
the apportionment complaint. The person upon whom the apportionment complaint is
served, hereinafter called the apportionment defendant, shall be a party for all purposes,
including all purposes under section 52-572h.
(b) The apportionment complaint shall be equivalent in all respects to an original
writ, summons and complaint, except that it shall include the docket number assigned
to the original action and no new entry fee shall be imposed. The apportionment defendant shall have available to him all remedies available to an original defendant including
the right to assert defenses, set-offs or counterclaims against any party. If the apportionment complaint is served within the time period specified in subsection (a) of this section,
no statute of limitation or repose shall be a defense or bar to such claim for apportionment,
except that, if the action against the defendant who instituted the apportionment complaint pursuant to subsection (a) of this section is subject to such a defense or bar, the
apportionment defendant may plead such a defense or bar to any claim brought by the
plaintiff directly against the apportionment defendant pursuant to subsection (d) of this
section.
(c) No person who is immune from liability shall be made an apportionment defendant nor shall such person's liability be considered for apportionment purposes pursuant
to section 52-572h. If a defendant claims that the negligence of any person, who was
not made a party to the action, was a proximate cause of the plaintiff's injuries or damage
and the plaintiff has previously settled or released the plaintiff's claims against such
person, then a defendant may cause such person's liability to be apportioned by filing
a notice specifically identifying such person by name and last known address and the
fact that the plaintiff's claims against such person have been settled or released. Such
notice shall also set forth the factual basis of the defendant's claim that the negligence
of such person was a proximate cause of the plaintiff's injuries or damages. No such
notice shall be required if such person with whom the plaintiff settled or whom the
plaintiff released was previously a party to the action.
(d) Notwithstanding any applicable statute of limitation or repose, the plaintiff may,
within sixty days of the return date of the apportionment complaint served pursuant to
subsection (a) of this section, assert any claim against the apportionment defendant
arising out of the transaction or occurrence that is the subject matter of the original
complaint.
(e) When a counterclaim is asserted against a plaintiff, he may cause a person not
a party to the action to be brought in as an apportionment defendant under circumstances
which under this section would entitle a defendant to do so.
(f) This section shall be the exclusive means by which a defendant may add a person
who is or may be liable pursuant to section 52-572h for a proportionate share of the
plaintiff's damages as a party to the action.
(g) In no event shall any proportionate share of negligence determined pursuant to
subsection (f) of section 52-572h attributable to an apportionment defendant against
whom the plaintiff did not assert a claim be reallocated under subsection (g) of said
section. Such proportionate share of negligence shall, however, be included in or added
to the combined negligence of the person or persons against whom the plaintiff seeks
recovery, including persons with whom the plaintiff settled or whom the plaintiff released under subsection (n) of section 52-572h, when comparing any negligence of the
plaintiff to other parties and persons under subsection (b) of said section.
(P.A. 95-111, S. 1, 2.)
History: P.A. 95-111 effective July 1, 1995, and applicable to any civil action filed on or after said date.
Significance of appeal undermined by the legislation; certification to appeal was improvidently granted; appeal dismissed. 239 C. 798. P.A. 95-111 cited. Id. Apportionment complaint seeking to add a person who may be liable to plaintiff
under Sec. 52-572h may not be filed against an unidentified person. 253 C. 516. Defendant may assert under a general
denial that the negligence of an employer who is not a party to the action is the sole proximate cause of plaintiff's injuries.
287 C. 20.
Cited. 46 CA 18. Reaffirmed previous holdings that section implicates personal jurisdiction and not subject matter
jurisdiction and applies to legal malpractice claims against apportionment defendants. 85 CA 655.
Subsec. (a):
Time limitation on bringing apportionment complaint is substantive and mandatory and implicates personal jurisdiction.
269 C. 10. Although compliance with the 120-day limit is mandatory, equitable reasons may excuse compliance, and fact
that legal basis for apportioning liability arose only after the 120-day limit had expired constitutes an equitable reason
justifying excusal from compliance with the limit. 281 C. 112.