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WEISS v. WEISS--DISSENT

PALMER, J., dissenting. I disagree with the majority's conclusion that the plaintiff, Claudia Weiss, is barred by the doctrine of res judicata from litigating her claim in the present case because she ``could have'' litigated the meaning of the term ``personal injury cases,'' which is contained in the parties' marital dissolution agreement, in the parties' prior dissolution action but failed to do so. In so concluding, the majority misapplies the doctrine of res judicata and, as a result, reaches a result that is both contrary to settled law and manifestly unfair to the plaintiff. It also is quite clear that the doctrine of collateral estoppel does not bar the plaintiff from proceeding with her claim in the present action. I therefore would reverse the trial court's decision to grant summary judgment in favor of the defendant, Martin T. Weiss. `` `Claim preclusion (res judicata) and issue preclusion (collateral estoppel) have been described as related ideas on a continuum. [C]laim preclusion prevents a litigant from reasserting a claim that has already been decided on the merits. . . . [I]ssue preclusion . . . prevents a party from relitigating an issue that has been determined in a prior suit.' '' Rocco v. Garrison, 268 Conn. 541, 554, 848 A.2d 352 (2004). `` `Both doctrines protect the finality of judicial determinations, conserve the time of the court, and prevent wasteful relitigation . . . and express no more than the fundamental principle that once a matter has been fully and fairly litigated, and finally decided, it comes to rest.' '' Id. `` `Res judicata, or claim preclusion, is [however] distinguishable from collateral estoppel, or issue preclusion. Under the doctrine of res judicata, a final judgment, when rendered on the merits, is an absolute bar to a subsequent action . . . between the same parties or those in privity with them, upon the same claim. . . . In contrast, collateral estoppel precludes a party from relitigating issues and facts actually and necessarily determined in an earlier proceeding between the same parties or those in privity with them upon a different claim.' '' Id., 554

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