U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C. (Photo: Diego M. Radzinschi/ALM)
A Connecticut attorney who made his first trip to the U.S. Supreme Court just saw his case land a big win after the justices issued a unanimous ruling in a case involving tribal immunity.
The justices, in an 8-0 opinion Tuesday, overruled a Connecticut Supreme Court that found the underlying personal injury case could not proceed to trial because the defendant, a tribal casino employee, had sovereign immunity.
In an opinion written by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, the court ruled that the real target of the personal injury suit involving a two-car accident was the casino’s limousine driver, and not the tribe or a tribal office. This meant the tribe’s sovereign immunity was not implicated.
The decision came as a surprise to attorney James M. Harrington, who thought the state Supreme Court shut the door on his clients, Brian and Michele Lewis, with their 7-0 ruling in March 2016. Harrington is an associate at Polito & Associates in Waterford.
The Lewises suffered head injuries after a limousine owned by the Mohegan Sun Inc. casino and driven by William Clarke hit their vehicle in 2011. The accident did not happen on the reservation.
“Yes, I was surprised by the vote. It’s pretty rare to get an 8-0 decision,” said Harrington, who handled the case throughout all phases in Connecticut and was present during the January arguments in front of the U.S. Supreme Court. “There are different wings of the court, the liberal wing and conservative wing and it’s pretty rare to have both wings in agreement on one case.”
Despite the unanimous decision by the Connecticut Supreme Court and the fact that the U.S. Supreme Court has only reviewed two cases from the Connecticut Supreme Court since 1986, Harrington appealed to the highest court in the land. The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear the case Jan. 9.
Eric Miller of Perkins Coie in Seattle made the actual 25-minute argument while Harrington sat nearby at counsel’s table.
Harrington, 37, who had never set foot in the U.S. Supreme Court until January, called the experience “surreal.”
“There are no cameras or videos in the courtroom, but you hear about the justices and read their cases. You rarely if ever, though, have any close up and personal experiences with them,” Harrington said. “To be seated three to four feet from the judges was quite an experience.”
Harrington said there was an obvious disconnect between the two courts’ unanimous decisions.
“My view is the Connecticut Supreme Court did not address the arguments we raised,” Harrington said. “Our main argument was that, because the tribal employee was sued in an individual capacity, it was of an individual nature and therefore the tribe could not invoke their sovereign immunity. But, the Connecticut Supreme Court’s holding was that as long as the tribal employee was acting in the scope of employ he is immune.”
The case is now remanded back to New London Superior Court.
Harrington said he hopes the case can be resolved within a year.
“There was a time, during the U.S. Supreme Court proceedings, when the tribe tried to settle the case because they realized they were in trouble,” said Harrington, who declined to say how much was offered. “This case impacts every single tribal reservation in the country and my clients knew that. They wanted to protect other people in the same situation they were in.”
Neal Katyal of Hogan Lovells represented Mohegan Sun. Katyal, a former U.S. solicitor general, was not available for comment. Miller was also not available for comment.
Robert Storace can be reached at (203) 437-5950 or at [email protected].
