Cramer & Anderson Partner Kent Mancini has won a 2021 Distinguished Leaders Award from the Connecticut Law Tribune (CLT) based on his significant successful outcome for a Connecticut housing authority, mentoring in the firm’s Litchfield office, leadership in the business community, and collaborative efforts to give back to first responders and families in need amid the pandemic.
This year’s CLT awards were presented in a May 12 online ceremony. Partner Jennifer Collins also won a Distinguished Leaders Award. Partner Dan Casagrande was a finalist in the Game Changers category.
Attorney Mancini successfully defended the Housing Authority for the City of Meriden, which had been sued by a factoring company for $2.2 million under the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) for a purported wrongful payment over a notice of assignment. As the trial court explained, factoring is when a business purchases accounts receivable from another business at a discounted price and, in exchange, the factoring firm advances working capital.
The underlying issue in Factor King, LLC v. Housing Authority for the City of Meriden et al was a 2016 agreement between Factor King and a third party, AEG, in which Factor King received the option to purchase any of AEG’s accounts receivable it deemed to be eligible accounts, and received a security interest in all of AEG’s accounts receivable, purchased or unpurchased. In November 2016, the housing authority paid $2,217,750 to AEG in response to an AEG invoice for work performed for the housing authority.
There was no dispute that Factor King had not purchased any of these invoices. However, Factor King claimed in its lawsuit that, pursuant to the UCC, the housing authority should have made the $2,217,750 payment to Factor King.
The housing authority sought summary judgment on the basis that Factor King had no right to collect on unpurchased invoices. The trial court agreed, finding that Factor King did not purchase the underlying accounts receivable from AEG simply by virtue of entering into the agreement and had no right to collect the $2,217,750. Factor King appealed and the Appellate Court strongly backed the trial court.
The original lawsuit was filed in May 2017, the Appellate Court affirmed the trial court’s decision in May 2020, and a petition for certification to appeal to the Connecticut Supreme Court was denied last summer.
In terms of leadership within the firm, Attorney Mancini has intensified his mentorship role, working closely with new Associate Chanwon (Pio) Yoon, who joined Cramer & Anderson in May 2020 after graduating from the University of Connecticut School of Law.
Attorney Mancini also represents the firm in a leadership role as Vice President of BNI Litchfield, a chapter of Business Networking International, and previously as president.
Working with Partner Neal White, Attorney Mancini collaborated on a donation of gift cards for meals from local restaurants to Litchfield Volunteer Ambulance and the Litchfield Social Services Department as the pandemic intensified in the spring of 2002.
Many of Cramer & Anderson’s attorneys have been honored with CLT Professional Excellence Awards in recent years, beginning with a 2016 New Leaders in the Law Award for Immigration Law Partner Lisa Rivas.
Partner John Tower won a Distinguished Leaders award, and Partner Josh Weinshank won a New Leaders in the Law Award in 2017, as did former associate Abigail Miranda.
Partner Chris Sochacki won a Distinguished Leaders award in 2018, the same year Partner Randy DiBella won a Best Mentors award, and Attorney Casagrande won the Giant Slayer award.
Cramer & Anderson Founding Partner, the late Henry B. “Hank” Anderson, was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award, also in 2018.
Partner Barry S. Moller won a Distinguished Leaders Award in 2020, and Associate Graham Moller, his son, won a New Leaders in the Law Award.
About Attorney Mancini
Attorney Mancini represents individual, corporate and public sector clients in a wide range of Civil Litigation and Appellate Litigation cases, including the prosecution and defense of claims in contract, construction, property, collections, personal injury, zoning, tax appeal, foreclosure, eviction, insurance, and commercial disputes. He handles all phases of civil trial practice, including negotiation, pre-judgment remedies, discovery, mediation, arbitration, trial, appeals, and post-judgment proceedings. Attorney Mancini’s practice areas also include Land Use & Environmental Law, Municipal Law, and Residential & Commercial Real Estate Law.
