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JOHN D. FLANNERY v. SINGER ASSET FINANCE COMPANY, LLC, ET AL. (AC 31285)
DiPentima, C. J., and Robinson and Bear, Js. Argued February 10--officially released May 10, 2011

(Appeal from Superior Court, judicial district of Hartford, Hon. Richard M. Rittenband, judge trial referee.) Thomas P. Willcutts, for the appellant (plaintiff).

Eliot B. Gersten, with whom, on the brief, was John H. Van Lenten, for the appellee (named defendant).

Opinion

BEAR, J. The plaintiff, John D. Flannery,1 appeals from the summary judgment rendered by the trial court in favor of the defendant Singer Asset Finance Company, LLC.2 On appeal, the plaintiff claims that the court improperly rendered summary judgment after it determined that the plaintiff's claims were barred by the applicable statutes of limitations. We affirm the judgment of the trial court. The following facts, as set forth in the plaintiff's complaint, which effectively were uncontested for purposes of the motion for summary judgment, and procedural history are relevant to our resolution of this appeal. In 1988, the plaintiff won the Iowa state lottery in a gross amount of $3,000,000, which was to be paid in twenty annual installments of $150,000. The defendant was engaged in the business of, inter alia, purchasing the installment payments of lottery winners by means of providing those winners with lump sum payments. Prior to March of 1999, the defendant had contacted the plaintiff numerous times in unsuccessful attempts to convince him to sell his lottery installments for a discounted lump sum payment. Prior to March 23, 1999, the defendant entered into a business relationship with attorney Glenn MacGrady for the purpose of having MacGrady provide what was purported to be independent professional advice to lottery winners. This purported independent professional advice, however, actually was based on a marketing scheme developed by the defendant to induce lottery winners to sell their installment payments to it by falsely advising them that they could gain significant tax advantages. In furtherance of this business relationship, the defendant arranged for MacGrady to communicate with the plaintiff in an attempt to induce him through these false tax benefit representations to sell his installment payments to the defendant for a discounted lump sum payment. On March 23, 1999, the plaintiff entered into a retainer agreement with MacGrady's law firm, Pepe & Hazard, LLP (Pepe & Hazard), whereby MacGrady and Pepe & Hazard promised to provide independent legal advice to the plaintiff, thereby creating a fiduciary attorneyclient relationship.3 MacGrady, in advancing the marketing scheme of the defendant, then convinced the plaintiff that he would experience substantial tax benefits if he sold his installment payments to the defendant for a discounted lump sum payment. This tax information, however, was false and erroneous. Relying on MacGrady's advice, the plaintiff eventually sold his eight remaining installment payments, valued at $1,200,000, to the defendant for a discounted rate of $868,500. Thereafter, in conformance with the tax advice of MacGrady, which had been based on the defendant's marketing scheme, the plaintiff filed a 1999 tax return listing the full amount of the lump sum payment as the sale

of a capital asset, paying only the capital gains tax rate on the amount. In October, 2002, the Internal Revenue Service notified the plaintiff that it did not agree with his treatment of the lump sum payment, and it concluded that the plaintiff had a tax deficiency of $163,523. The plaintiff contacted MacGrady, who, in furtherance of his business relationship with the defendant, continued to maintain the correctness of the tax advice. MacGrady encouraged the plaintiff to join a group of similarly situated lottery winners who also were challenging the Internal Revenue Service's treatment of their lump sum payments, which group the plaintiff joined. Throughout this entire time, from 1999 through 2002, MacGrady never disclosed to the plaintiff his business relationship with the defendant, nor did the defendant disclose to the plaintiff its relationship with MacGrady. On July 22, 2005, the plaintiff brought the present action, claiming in relevant part that the conduct of the defendant amounted to (1) aiding and abetting in the breach of a fiduciary duty4 and (2) a violation of the Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act (CUTPA), General Statutes

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