OFFICIAL 2021 - Connecticut

OFFICIAL2021CONNECTICUT PRACTICE BOOK(Revision of 1998)CONTAININGRULES OF PROFESSIONAL CONDUCTCODE OF JUDICIAL CONDUCTRULES FOR THE SUPERIOR COURTRULES OF APPELLATE PROCEDUREAPPENDIX OF FORMSNOTICE REGARDING OFFICIAL JUDICIAL BRANCH FORMSAPPENDIX OF SECTION 1-9B CHANGESPublished byThe Commission on Official Legal Publications Copyrighted by the Secretary of the State of the State of Connecticut

2021 by the Secretary of the State, State of Connecticut Copyrighted by the Secretary of the State of the State of Connecticut

EXPLANATORY NOTESThe Superior Court Rules as organized herein were first published in the Connecticut LawJournal dated July 29, 1997. This 2021 edition of the Practice Book contains amendments to theRules of Professional Conduct, the Superior Court Rules and the Rules of Appellate Procedure.The amendments were published in the Connecticut Law Journals dated February 11, 2020,July 14, 2020, and August 4, 2020.The system used to number each section is based on the chapter in which the section islocated. Each section has a two part number. The first part of the number designates the chapter, and the second part designates the number of the section within that chapter. (Chapter1 begins with 1-1, chapter 2 with 2-1, etc.) The internal breakdown of individual rules followsthe style of the General Statutes. Subsections are designated by lower case letters in parentheses, (a), (b), subdivisions are designated by numbers in parentheses, (1), (2), and subparagraphs are designated by upper case letters in parentheses, (A), (B).Origin of the rules. A parenthetical notation about the origin of each rule is found at theend of every section in this volume. The notation (P.B. 1978-1997, Sec.) indicates thenumber of the section in the 1978-1997 Practice Book corresponding to the current section.Current numbers of any sections corresponding to the sections in the 1978-1997 PracticeBook appear in the Reference Tables following the text of the rules. The notation (1998)indicates that the section was new in the 1998 Practice Book, taking effect October 1, 1997.The notation (See P.B. 1978-1997, Sec.) (1998) indicates that the section was modeledon a rule in the 1978-1997 Practice Book but was actually adopted for the first time to takeeffect October 1, 1997. There may be significant differences between the rules in this volumeand those in the 1978-1997 Practice Book on which they were modeled. The temporary numbers assigned to those rules in the July 29, 1997 Connecticut Law Journal, where they wereoriginally published, appear in the Reference Tables following the text of the rules.When a section was adopted or amended after 1997, a parenthetical notation to that effectappears either immediately following the text of the section or following the parenthetical notation concerning the derivation of the section. When the title to a section has been amended,a parenthetical notation appears immediately following the title.Histories and commentaries. Histories describing the nature of amendments and Commentaries indicating the intended purpose of new rules or amendments to existing rules areprinted following the text of new or amended rules. Histories and Commentaries are includedfor only those rules that were adopted or amended to take effect in the year correspondingto the current edition of the Practice Book, with the following exceptions: (1) the Historiesand Commentaries to the rules on sealing of files and closure of the courtroom will be retainedon a cumulative basis; (2) the 2014 Commentary to Section 1-10B and the 2017 Commentaryto Section 2-27A have been retained; and (3) Commentaries to certain sections of the Rulesof Appellate Procedure have been retained. Users wanting to access the Histories documentingrule changes and Commentaries to new or amended rules, in a given year, should not discardthe corresponding edition of the Practice Book. For example, Histories and Commentariescorresponding to rule changes to take effect January 1, 2021, will appear only in the 2021edition of the Practice Book and not in subsequent editions, unless the rule falls into one ofthe exceptions, listed previously.The Commentaries to the rules of practice are included in this volume for informationalpurposes only. Commentaries to those rules are not adopted by the Judges and Justiceswhen they vote to adopt proposed rule changes. Commentaries to the Rules of ProfessionalConduct and Code of Judicial Conduct are adopted by the Judges and Justices and areprinted in every edition of the Practice Book.iii Copyrighted by the Secretary of the State of the State of Connecticut

Beginning in 2000, Amendment Notes were incorporated into the Rules of ProfessionalConduct and the Code of Judicial Conduct. Those notes, approved by the Rules Committeeof the Superior Court to explain the revisions to the Rules of Professional Conduct and Codeof Judicial Conduct, appear only in the edition of the Practice Book corresponding to the yearof the revision and not in subsequent editions.Every year, certain nonsubstantive, technical editorial changes are made to a number ofthe rules. Some, but not all, of these changes are explained in Technical Change notes.The Rules of Appellate Procedure. The reorganization of the Rules of Appellate Procedurein 1998 was completed subsequent to the publication of the July 29, 1997 Connecticut LawJournal and was published in this volume for the first time in 1998. The goal in reorganizing the Rules of Appellate Procedure was to present them in the order in which an appellantmight approach the appeal process, i.e., rules on whether to appeal, how to file, what to donext, when argument will take place, opinions and reargument. Rules on various special proceedings were organized into separate chapters. No substantive changes were made in thecourse of reorganization, but there were editorial changes.Juvenile matters. Effective January 1, 2003, the rules pertaining to procedure in juvenilematters were amended and reorganized. The amendments initially were published in theConnecticut Law Journal of July 23, 2002. The July 23, 2002 Connecticut Law Journal gavenotice that the rules on juvenile matters, which, since 1998, had been found in chapters 26through 35, had been moved to chapters 26a through 35a. In the Practice Book itself, however,the original numbers of the juvenile rules were retained whenever possible.Appendices and notices. In 2002, an Appendix was added following the Index. The Appendix contains certain forms that previously had been in Volume 2 of the 1978-1997 PracticeBook. The Appendix of Superior Court Standing Orders, which was added in 2010, was removedin 2012. A notice referring the reader to the Judicial Branch website for access to the SuperiorCourt Standing Orders was substituted in its place. The Index of Official Judicial Branch FormsUsed in Civil, Family and Juvenile Matters, which was added in 2010, was removed in 2018. Anotice referring the reader to the Judicial Branch website for access to official Judicial Branch formswas substituted in its place. In 2021, a temporary appendix was added noting various changesenacted by the Rules Committee of the Superior Court, and subsequently adopted by the judgesof the Superior Court, pursuant to Section 1-9B, in response to the public health emergency andthe civil preparedness emergency initially declared by Governor Lamont on March 10, 2020, andthen renewed by him on September 1, 2020. Subsequent changes may be adopted. Refer towww.jud.ct.gov, www.jud.ct.gov/COVID19.htm, and www.jud.ct.gov/pb.htm for updates.iv Copyrighted by the Secretary of the State of the State of Connecticut

TABLE OF CONTENTSAttorney’s Oath . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1Rules of Professional ConductPreamble. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Scope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Rules and Commentaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Preamble. . . . . .Scope . . . . . . .Terminology . . . .Application . . . . .Canons, Rules and. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Comments.Code. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .of Judicial Conduct. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .124.6565666768Chapter and Section Headings of the Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .82Superior Court Rules and Rules of Appellate ProcedureSuperior Court—General erChapter1234567Scope of Rules . . . . . .Attorneys. . . . . . . . . .Appearances . . . . . . .Pleadings . . . . . . . . .Trials . . . . . . . . . . . .Judgments . . . . . . . . .Clerks; Files and 4240242248260263266267270272282Chapter 25 General Provisions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .289Superior Court—Procedure in Civil apterChapterChapterChapter8 Commencement of Action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9 Parties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10 Pleadings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11 Motions, Requests, Orders of Notice, and Short Calendar12 Transfer of Actions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13 Discovery and Depositions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14 Dockets, Trial Lists, Pretrials and Assignment Lists . . . .15 Trials in General; Argument by Counsel . . . . . . . . . .16 Jury Trials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17 Judgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18 Fees and Costs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20 Hearings in Chambers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21 Receivers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22 Unemployment Compensation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23 Miscellaneous Remedies and Procedures . . . . . . . . .24 Small Claims . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Superior Court—Procedure in Family MattersSuperior Court—Procedure in Family Support Magistrate MattersChapter 25a Family Support Magistrate Matters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .310Superior Court—Procedure in Juvenile MattersChapter 26 General Provisions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .v Copyrighted by the Secretary of the State of the State of Connecticut319