A federal judge Tuesday denied a request from the prestigious Hotchkiss School for reconsideration of an earlier court ruling that kept a breach of fiduciary duty finding in a lawsuit alleging the school had a duty to stop the alleged 1980s sexual assault of a minor.

In his ruling, which keeps the lawsuit moving forward, U.S. District Judge Victor Bolden of the District of Connecticut said a motion for reconsideration should only be granted when the defendant identifies “an intervening change of controlling law, the availability of new evidence, or the need to correct a clear error or prevent manifest injustice.” Bolden said the school proved none of those.

The February 2015 lawsuit was filed on behalf of a former student identified with the pseudonym John Doe, who alleges then-English teacher Roy Smith sexually assaulted him for years at the school, beginning when the student was 14 years old. Smith has since died, but Doe alleges the school had a duty to protect its student.

In March, the court dismissed claims for intentional infliction of emotional distress, but allowed claims of negligence, recklessness, negligent infliction of emotional distress, along with breach of fiduciary duty to remain.

The plaintiff attorneys in this suit also filed an October 2018 complaint on behalf of another boy, listed in court papers as Richard Roe, who said the same teacher sexually assaulted him in the 1990s. That case is pending.

Hotchkiss spokeswoman Danielle Sinclair declined to comment Thursday.

Here are the attorneys on both sides of the Doe litigation.

Annika K. Martin

Doe's attorney, Annika Martin, a partner in the New York City offices of Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, has represented plaintiffs since 2005 in sexual abuse cases. Martin also specializes in environmental law, mass tort and consumer protection. She was co-interim counsel representing women in sexually assault class actions against gynecologist George Tyndall and the the University of Southern California, and gynecologist Patrick Sutton and Huntington Memorial Hospital in Pasadena, California.

Wendy Fleishman

Plaintiff counsel Wendy Fleishman, a partner in the New York City offices of Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, has more than 30 years of courtroom experience.

A large part of her practice, according to her biography on the firm's website, consists of representing patients prescribed drugs with undisclosed and dangerous side effects, or who received defective medical devices.

Fleishman devotes a part of her practice to a wide range of individual catastrophic-injury cases, as well as complicated medical malpractice cases.

Hugh Cuthbertson

Doe's lawyer, Hugh Cuthbertson, is a shareholder with New Haven-based Zangari Cohn Cuthbertson Duhl & Grello. He has been involved for the past 35 years in both civil and criminal litigation in state and federal court, at both the trial and appellate levels.

Cuthbertson's specialty, according to his biography on the firm's website, is representing companies and their management in the defense of employment, discrimination, harassment and wrongful discharge, as well as breach of contract and related tort claims, such as defamation and infliction of emotional distress.

Glenn Duhl

Plaintiff counsel Glenn Duhl, a shareholder with New Haven-based Zangari Cohn Cuthbertson Duhl & Grello, represents management in employment and law litigation. Representative matters, according to his biography on the firm's website, include breach of contract, wrongful termination, defamation, trade secret misappropriation and sexual harassment.

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Brad Babbitt

Representing Hotchkiss School are Harftord-based Robinson & Cole attorneys Brad Babbitt and Jeffrey White.

Brad Babbitt, co-chair of Robinson & Cole's litigation section, represents businesses in a wide variety of industries. According to his biography on his company's website, Babbitt represents religious organizations and schools in a variety of disputes. He has defended local churches, dioceses and archdioceses in the Episcopal and Roman Catholic faiths from claims of sexual abuse.

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Jeffrey White

Jeffrey White provides Robinson & Cole clients in manufacturing and distribution with counseling and dispute resolution advice. He is chair of the firm's manufacturing industry team, and has represented several Fortune 500 manufacturers in the aerospace, chemicals and consumer product markets fields.

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