Firm News

Wiggin and Dana’s Robert M. Langer, a senior counsel in the firm’s Hartford office and co-chair of the firm’s Antitrust and Consumer Protection Practice Group, and New Haven Partner, Kim E. Rinehart, chair of the firm’s Class Action Defense Practice Group, have co-authored the 2021-2022 Edition of “Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices, Business Torts and Antitrust,” Vol. 12 of the Connecticut Practice Series, just released by publisher Thomson Reuters.

Over the years, the scope of the book has been expanded to include an extensive treatment of business torts and the Connecticut Antitrust Act. The authors have sought to provide some insight into the relationship between CUTPA, the Federal Trade Commission Act and the unfair trade practice acts of other states. They have also made available a number of practical aids, including a model complaint, model jury instructions, a list of state statutes referencing CUTPA and charts listing the analogous statutes in each state, as well as key components of each such statute, including how each state interprets unfairness and deception.

The 2021-2022 edition, which is almost 2000 pages in length, highlights several important recent developments, including: (a)  the continued vitality of the “Cigarette Rule” methodology utilized to analyze unfair acts and practices as a result of the Connecticut Supreme Court’s decision in Kent Literary Club of Wesleyan University at Middletown v. Wesleyan University, 338 Conn. 189, 257 A.3d 874 (2021); (b) clarification of the standard for the trial court’s determination of whether to award attorney’s fees under § 42-110g(a) in the Connecticut Supreme Court’s decision in Stone v. East Coast Swappers, LLC, 337 Conn. 589, 255 A.3d 851 (2020); (c) two public acts enacted during the 2021 session of the Connecticut General Assembly that grant the Connecticut Attorney General express authority to review “material changes” in the ownership of medical marijuana producers and dispensaries (P.A. 21-37, § 49(c)) (eff. 7/1/21), as well as “material changes” in the ownership of a “cannabis establishment” under the “Responsible and Equitable Regulation of Adult-Use Cannabis Act” (“RERACA”) (P.A. 21-1, § 61(c)) (June Spec. Sess.) (eff. 7/1/21), in order to enable the Attorney General to determine whether such transactions, if consummated, would violate antitrust laws; and (d) the passage of several additional Connecticut statutes during the 2021 session of the Connecticut General Assembly, including statutes that address unfair pricing of alcoholic liquor (P.A. 21-37, § 91), limited services pregnancy centers (P.A. 21-17, § 3(d)), and the advertising of cannabis (P.A. 21-1, § 33(d)) (June Spec. Sess.), that expressly incorporate CUTPA by reference, thus making a violation of these statutes per se violations of CUTPA.

Mr. Langer co-authored the original treatise, in 1994. Co-authors are the late David L. Belt, past member of Hurwitz, Sagarin, Slossberg & Knuff LLC, and Quinnipiac University School of Law Professor Emeritus, John T. Morgan.

Mr. Langer and Ms. Rinehart extend their gratitude to their Wiggin and Dana colleagues, Ana Oman, Douglas Apicella and Lisa Weeden for their invaluable assistance.