Under Connecticut’s Unfair Trade Practice statute, CUTPA as its commonly known, parties are required to provide the Attorney General’s office with a copy of any complaint seeking relief under the statute. Until recently, lawyers had to mail a copy of the complaint, and allege they did so in the body of the complaint. Now, the Attorney General’s office accepts them electronically for faster review by the trade practice division to determine if the division wants to get involved. A January 11, 2013 “Connecticut Law Tribune” article sought Attorney Anthony Minchella’s CUTPA experience on this new process. In “State Brings Digital Dimension to CUTPA Cases” author Christian Nolan sought input from CUTPA practitioners and sought out Attorney Minchella’s view. The article explained that “The state Department of Consumer Protection and the Attorney General’s Office are trying to make life easier to private sector lawyers.” The article stated that, “previously anyone filing a lawsuit under the Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act (CUTPA) needed to send a copy to both the AG (Attorney General) and the Consumer Protection commissioner. Until recently, that meant snail mail. But now there’s a digital option.”
