Connecticut Court Pauses Interactive Brokers’ Negligence Lawsuit Deadlines

Connecticut court stays deadlines in Interactive Brokers‘ negligence suit after parties reach a settlement in principle over software design claims.

Key Points:

• Judge Alvin W. Thompson paused all deadlines after the parties reported a settlement in principle.
• Plaintiff claims that Interactive Brokers negligently designed its auto-liquidation software, which caused trading losses.

The U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut has agreed to pause all case deadlines in a long-running engineering negligence lawsuit against Interactive Brokers LLC, following a settlement in principle between the parties.

The order, signed by Judge Alvin W. Thompson on August 19, 2025, grants a joint motion by the plaintiff and defendants to “suspend all Scheduling Order deadlines pursuant to a settlement in principle on agreed terms between Plaintiff and Defendants.”

Connecticut Court Pauses Interactive Brokers’ Negligence Lawsuit Deadlines

Robert Scott Batchelar claims that Interactive Brokers negligently designed, coded, maintained, and operated its Auto-Liquidation Software, causing him to incur thousands of dollars in avoidable losses when the system automatically liquidated positions in his trading account.

Batchelar first filed the lawsuit in December 2015, asserting claims for breach of contract, negligence, and commercially unreasonable liquidation of pledged collateral. Over the years, the case has focused on Batchelar’s contention that the software executed liquidation transactions on terms less favorable than authorized by the platform’s own rules.

While settlement discussions appear to have advanced, the case has seen significant procedural battles. Most recently, Interactive Brokers sought a protective order to prevent the deposition of company founder Thomas Peterffy, but the court denied the motion on July 17, 2025.

Details of the settlement in principle have not been disclosed. The stay means all current deadlines under the Scheduling Order are on hold as the parties work toward finalizing the agreement.

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