Cramer & Anderson Partner Dan Casagrande, second from left, with Attorney Chris Rooney, far left, and UConn Law Professor Michael Fischl, third from left, with law students at the Connecticut Supreme Court Nov. 16.
When Cramer & Anderson Partner Dan Casagrande presented his Connecticut Supreme Court oral argument in a longstanding case concerning real estate brokerage fees this past November, it was also a teaching moment.
University of Connecticut School of Law Professor Michael Fischl brought his class to listen to oral arguments in the case, and afterward, Attorney Casagrande participated in a Q&A with the students, joined by opposing counsel Christopher Rooney of Carmody Torrance Sandak & Hennessey LLP
Listen to Attorney Casagrande’s Oral Argument
“Thank you for giving us the opportunity to address your students after the argument. They were enthusiastic and engaged, and I know they will make excellent appellate lawyers,” Attorney Casagrande wrote in an email to Professor Fischl. He and Professor Fischl are arranging a time this semester for Attorney Casagrande to speak to the class again on the law school campus in Hartford to explore the challenges and rewards of appellate advocacy.
“It was a very rewarding experience for me,” Attorney Casagrande added. “Any opportunity to give law students an understanding of how actual cases are argued and decided is gratifying, and this case in particular is complex and fascinating.”
He also noted the importance of giving law students a sense of the opportunities that await them after passing the Connecticut Bar, which extend beyond the large firms headquartered in Hartford and other cities.
“At Cramer & Anderson, we offer an attractive alternative not only because of the caliber of our practice but because the area of Connecticut where our six regional offices are located is a lovely place to work and live,” Attorney Casagrande wrote to Professor Fischl.
As for the oral arguments students heard, they represent the latest chapter in a major antitrust case Attorney Casagrande won when, in March 2020, the Connecticut Supreme Court overturned a decades-old precedent that said tying agreements for real estate brokerage fees violated the Connecticut Antitrust Act.
Attorney Casagrande represents Reserve Realty, LLC, which had filed a breach of contract claim against Windemere Reserve LLC and BLT Reserve LLC in the summer of 2013 in connection with two large, then-vacant parcels formerly part of the Union Carbide corporate complex in western Danbury, called the Reserve.
After Attorney Casagrande established that tying agreements for real estate brokerage fees do not violate antitrust laws, Reserve Realty’s remaining claims were remanded to the Connecticut Appellate Court, which ruled that Reserve Realty and its principals are not entitled to market Reserve properties and leases, or to receive commissions.
Attorney Casagrande petitioned to bring the issue back to the state Supreme Court and then filed a brief in the matter in February, 2022. Oral arguments from Attorney Casagrande and Attorney Rooney took place Nov. 16.
About Attorney Casagrande
Attorney Dan Casagrande
Attorney Casagrande, named to the Connecticut Super Lawyers list in the fall of 2022, practices Municipal Law, as well as Planning & Zoning Land Use, Property Tax Law, and Land Use & Environmental Law. He has served as an outside Assistant Corporation Counsel for the City of Danbury from 1990 through the present, and has served multiple-year engagements as Town Attorney for New Milford and New Fairfield. See our story about Attorney Casagrande’s notable outcomes in 2022.
About Cramer & Anderson
Cramer & Anderson provides sophisticated legal services, close to home, with regional offices in New Milford, Washington Depot, Kent, Litchfield, Danbury, and Ridgefield. For more information, see the firm’s website or call the flagship office in New Milford at (860) 355-2631.
