Lawson v. Godfried
| Decision Date | 10 June 1980 |
| Citation | 181 Conn. 214,435 A.2d 15 |
| Court | Connecticut Supreme Court |
| Parties | Margaret LAWSON et al. v. Milton S. GODFRIED. |
Michael A. Wolak III, New Haven, with whom, on the brief, was Alan E. Silver, New Haven, for appellants (plaintiffs).
Kenneth J. Mulvey, Jr., New Haven, with whom, on the brief, was John C. Flanagan, New Haven, for appellee (defendant).
Before COTTER, C. J., and BOGDANSKI, PETERS, HEALEY and PARSKEY, JJ.
The only issue of importance to this appeal is whether the trial court abused its discretion in denying the plaintiffs' motions to amend their complaint. The plaintiffs, Margaret Lawson and James Lawson, on May 30, 1973, brought an action against the defendant, Milton S. Godfried, alleging medical malpractice in conjunction with surgery performed in 1971. The complaint alleged failure to use the care and skill ordinarily used by physicians engaged in medical practice. More specifically the plaintiffs claimed that the defendant had not successfully performed the operation, a tubal ligation, because eight months later the plaintiff Margaret Lawson was found to have an ectopic pregnancy and a fibroid uterus. These claims were amplified in response to the defendant's motions for more specific statement, in 1973 and 1975. The defendant thereafter filed an answer and the pleadings were closed on July 10, 1975. After intermediary interrogatories and pretrial proceedings, on the first day of trial, October 30, 1978, the plaintiffs filed a motion to amend their complaint. This motion, then denied, was renewed and again denied at the conclusion of the presentation of the plaintiffs' evidence. Thereupon the trial court, DeVita, J., granted the defendant's motion for directed verdict, and this appeal ensued.
The purpose of the motions to amend the complaint was to expand the allegations of negligence in two respects. The plaintiffs sought to add contentions that the defendant had failed to advise the plaintiffs that pregnancy was possible even after the tubal ligation, and that the defendant had guaranteed that there would be no such pregnancy. The plaintiffs do not contest the defendant's assertion that these new contentions differ substantially from the initial allegation of failure to perform the surgery in an acceptable fashion.
The trial court has wide discretion in granting or denying amendments before, during, or after trial. Our courts have followed a liberal policy to permit belated amendments to the pleadings unless the amendment will cause an unreasonable delay, mislead the opposing party, take unfair advantage of the opposing party, or confuse the issues, or unless the delayed amendment is attributable to some misconduct on the part of its proponent. Smith v. New Haven, 144 Conn. 126, 132, 127 A.2d 829 (1956); Crowell v. Middletown Savings Bank, 122 Conn. 362, 369, 189 A. 172 (1937). See Practice Book, 1978, § 176. On rare occasions, this court has found an abuse of discretion by the trial court in determining whether an amendment should be permitted; see, e. g., Wesson v. F. M. Heritage Co., 174 Conn. 236, 239-40, 386 A.2d 217 (1978); Tammaro v. Ledewitz, 157 Conn....
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...(" '[t]he trial court has wide discretion in granting or denying amendments before, during, or after trial' "); Lawson v. Godfried, 181 Conn. 214, 216, 435 A.2d 15 (1980) In the present case, the only appropriate procedure for the trial court to employ would have been to decide the issues d......
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...to deny an amendment during a trial will not be disturbed unless there is a clear abuse of that discretion. Lawson v. Godfried, 181 Conn. 214, 216, 435 A.2d 15 (1980)." Farrell v. St. Vincent's Hospital, 203 Conn. 554, 561-62, 525 A.2d 954 (1987). Our review of the record in this case and t......
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