Governor Dannel P. Malloy - Archive

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Press Releases

04/03/2018

Gov. Malloy Nominates Eleven Connecticut Residents to Fill Judicial Vacancies on the Superior Court

(HARTFORD, CT) – Governor Dannel P. Malloy today announced that he is nominating eleven state residents to fill vacancies for judgeships on the Connecticut Superior Court. While these nominations represent only a fraction of the 42 vacancies that currently exist in the Superior Court, these judges will provide critical judicial capacity in performing the essential duties of the court system.

“Selecting nominees to fill vacancies in our court system is one of the most important duties that a governor performs – they must possess the qualities that build a stronger, fairer Connecticut for everyone in the long-run,” Governor Malloy said. “I believe that each of these women and men will bring to the bench the diverse qualities that mirror the people of our state while also meeting the high principles and integrity that our citizens deserve.”

In addition to those announced today, the Governor intends to announce further judicial nominations for the Superior Court in the coming days.

Governor Malloy’s nominations for the Superior Court include:

  • Barbara D. Aaron of West Hartford: Aaron is a partner at Berman, Bourns, Aaron & Dembo LLC in Hartford, where since 2000 she has focused her practice on mediation and collaborative divorce, serving clients who are interested in resolving their cases in a confidential, respectful, and efficient process. Previously, she worked as a partner with Whitehead & Aaron from 1993 to 2000, as a principal with her own law firm from 1990 to 1993, as an associate attorney with McEleney & McGrail in Hartford from 1986 to 1990, and as a public defender with the Legal Aid Society’s Criminal Defense Division in New York City from 1984 to 1986. Aaron currently serves on the Board of the Copper Beech Institute and is the co-chair of the Family Law Committee of the Hartford County Bar Association. She is a graduate of American University, where she received her Bachelor of Arts in Literature, and Brooklyn Law School, where she received her Juris Doctor degree.
  • Eugene R. Calistro, Jr. of Guilford: Calistro is Senior Assistant State’s Attorney and Special Assistant to the United States Attorney for the State of Connecticut’s Division of Criminal Justice, where since 1992 he has handled a large capacity of criminal law matters. In this position, his duties include handling numerous court and jury trials, pretrial negotiations and trial preparation, drafting pretrial and post-trial motions and responses, and oral argument before superior court judges. He also serves as a member of the National District Attorney’s Association, the Connecticut Bar Association, and the American Bar Association. Calistro’s previous legal experience includes working as an associate trial attorney with Shay, Slocum & Dewey in New Haven from 1991 to 1992, and as a supervisory judicial law clerk for the State of Connecticut Judicial Department from 1986 to 1991. He is a graduate of the University of New Haven, where he received his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, and the Walter F. George School of Law of Mercer University, where he received his Juris Doctor degree.
  • Suzanne E. Caron of Bloomfield: Caron is a partner with Caron & Parris LLC in Vernon, where since 2006 her practice has focused on family law, collaborative divorce, mediation, personal injury, and attorney disciplinary proceedings. From 1988 to 2006 she worked as a partner with Kahan, Kerensky & Capossela LLP in Vernon, as a litigation attorney with practice emphasis upon family law, personal injury, attorney disciplinary proceedings, and zoning and land use appeals. She has also worked as an Adjunct Professor with the University of Connecticut School of Law, teaching first-year law students in a lawyering process course. Throughout her legal career, Caron has provided pro bono service to a number of organizations, including Statewide Legal Services of Connecticut from 1988 to 2012, where she represented indigent clients in dissolution proceedings, the juvenile court from 1988 to 1996, where she represented children and parents in abuse/neglect proceedings, and Hartford Interval House from 1989 to 2014, where she represented victims of domestic violence in custody and dissolution proceedings and restraining order hearings. She is a graduate of Bates College, where she received her Bachelor of Arts in History, and the University of Connecticut School of Law, where she received her Juris Doctor degree.
  • Courtney M. Chaplin of Manchester: Chaplin is a Deputy Assistant State’s Attorney for the State of Connecticut’s Division of Criminal Justice, where since 2015 he has been responsible for calling all dockets in court, including judicial pretrial, arraignment, regular, probation review, and motor vehicle cases. He also conducts evidentiary courtside hearings, engages in plea negotiation and trial preparation, and drafts evidentiary motions and objections. Immediately prior to that, Chaplin served as Special Deputy Assistant State’s Attorney in the office’s civil litigation bureau from 2014 to 2015. From 2013 to 2014, he worked as an associate attorney with small insurance defense firm in Hartford. He has also served as a judicial clerk at the Connecticut Appellate Court. Chaplin currently serves as treasurer of the George W. Crawford Black Bar Association, as a member of the Client Security Fund Committee, and as a member of the Connecticut Bar Association’s Legislative Policy and Review Committee and its Statewide Opioid Taskforce. He is a graduate of Wofford College, where he received in Bachelor of Arts in Government and Spanish, and Howard University School of Law, where he received his Juris Doctor degree.
  • Robert W. Clark of Durham: Clark serves as Special Counsel to the Connecticut Attorney General, where since 2011 he has been responsible for the Attorney General’s legislative initiatives and for responding to legal and public policy inquiries from legislators, constitutional officers, and state agency heads. He also serves as a member of the office’s six-person executive Litigation Management and Opinion Management Committees. Immediately prior to that position, Clark served as an Assistant Attorney General from 2004 to 2011 in the office’s Special Litigation Department. Prior to joining the Office of the Attorney General, he worked in private practice, including as an associate for Day, Berry & Howard LLP in Hartford in the commercial litigation and creditors’ rights and bankruptcy departments, and as an associate with Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP in New York City in the credits’ rights and bankruptcy department. He is a graduate of the University of Connecticut, where he received his Bachelor of Arts in English, and the University of Connecticut School of Law, where he received his Juris Doctor degree.
  • Tracy Lee Dayton of Weston: Dayton is a partner with Levine Lee LLP, where since 2017 she has served as a trial and appellate lawyer practicing in the areas of white collar and securities enforcement defense, investigations, and complex litigation. In this position, she represents individuals and businesses in connection with investigations by the U.S. Department of Justice, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and other regulatory agencies involving, among other things, securities and corporate fraud, and public corruption. Prior to joining Levine Lee, Dayton was an Assistant United States Attorney in the District of Connecticut from 2007 to 2017, where she served as the Executive Assistant United States Attorney and the Chief of Violent Crimes and Narcotics. She also served as an Assistant United States Attorney (AUSA) for five years in the Eastern District of New York, where she was the Deputy Chief of Violent Crimes and Terrorism. As an AUSA, Dayton handled matters involving racketeering, bank fraud, mail and wire fraud, money laundering, and terrorism. Her previous experience also includes working as Deputy District Attorney for the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office in California, as an Adjunct Professor with the Fordham University School of Law, and as a Business Leader in Forensic Audit with MasterCard International. Dayton currently serves as a member of the Federal Bar Council’s Federal Criminal Practice Committee, and as a commissioner on the Connecticut State Marshal Commission. She is a graduate of Princeton University, where she received her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, and Boalt Hall School of Law of the University of California at Berkeley, where she received her Juris Doctor degree.
  • Stephanie A. McLaughlin of Stamford: McLaughlin is the Executive Director of the Stamford Hospital Foundation, where since 2013 her responsibilities have included managing legal affairs for the organization, including drafting and negotiating contracts, drafting board resolutions, and overseeing litigation, mediations, arbitrations, and real estate and business transactions. She leads the planned giving initiative for the Foundation. From 2001 to 2013 she worked as a partner with Sandak Hennessey & Greco LLP in Stamford, serving as an advisor to several small and mid-sized businesses on matters spanning from commercial real estate lease negotiations to employment matters. From 1995 to 1997 McLaughlin served as Special Assistant to the Chief of Staff for the Peace Corps in Washington, DC, and in 1998 she also served as a clerk in the Office of the General Counsel for the Peace Corps. She is a graduate of American University, where she received her Bachelor of Arts with a focus in international relations, and DePaul University College of Law, where she received her Juris Doctor degree.
  • Maureen Price-Boreland of Durham: Price-Boreland is the Executive Director of Community Partners in Action, a 143 year old nonprofit organization that provides a myriad of community justice and re-entry programming to make a positive impact on lives and advocates for criminal justice reform, a position she has held since 1997. For the ten years prior to that, she was the Deputy Director and Program Manager for the organization under its original name, the Connecticut Prison Association. Since 2001 she has also worked as an adjunct professor in criminal justice at Central Connecticut State University. She also serves as a member of several boards and commissions in the state, including the Governor’s Cabinet on Nonprofit Health and Human Services, the Connecticut Sentencing Commission, the Commission on Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Criminal Justice System, and the Steering Committee of the Connecticut Juvenile Justice Alliance. She is a graduate of Central Connecticut State University, where she received her Bachelor of Science in Sociology, and the University of Connecticut School of Law, where she received her Juris Doctor degree.
  • Stuart D. Rosen of Avon: Rosen is a partner in the litigation department of Robinson & Cole LLP in Hartford, where he has worked since 2014 as a member of the business litigation and insurance/reinsurance groups. He also works as a commercial arbitrator with the American Arbitration Association, for whom he has served since 1993, and as an adjunct lecturer at law on insurance litigation and arbitration with the University of Connecticut School of Law since 2012. He is also a member of the Board of Directors for Nutmeg Big Brothers Big Sisters of Hartford. Previously, he worked in the law offices of Bingham McCutchen LLP from 1996 to 2014. He is a graduate of the University of Connecticut, where he received his Bachelor of Arts, and the Columbus School of Law of the Catholic University of America, where he received his Juris Doctor degree.
  • Joseph B. Schwartz of West Hartford: Schwartz is a partner with Murtha Cullina LLP in Hartford, where he represents clients in the areas of municipal and land use litigation and general commercial litigation. Since 2012, he has worked with the firm to represent municipalities, developers, businesses, and individuals in all phases of local land use approval and complex real estate litigation. Previously, he worked as an associate with McElroy, Deutsch, Mulvaney & Carpenter LLP (formerly Pepe & Hazard LLP) from 2010 to 2012, and as an associate with Cohen and Wolf P.C. from 2007 to 2010. He serves on several boards, including as a former member of the Board of Trustees for the University of Connecticut School of Law Foundation, as a member of the Mandel Jewish Community Center of Greater Hartford, and as treasurer of the Connecticut Association of Water Pollution Control Authorities. He is a graduate of The George Washington University, where he received his Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance, and the University of Connecticut School of Law, where he received his Juris Doctor degree.
  • James Field Spallone of Centerbrook: Spallone is the Chief Legal Counsel in the Connecticut General Assembly’s House Democratic Caucus, where he has worked since January 2017. Immediately prior to that, he served for six years as Deputy Secretary of the State of Connecticut. He has also worked for nearly two decades in private practice, serving in the Law Office of James Field Spallone, where he specialized in civil and criminal litigation, family law, probate, and real estate, as well as with Gould, Larson, Bennet, Wells & McDonnell, P.C.; Waller, Smith & Palmer, P.C.; and McNerney, FitzGerald & Tiernan P.C. He was elected to serve five terms as State Representative from 2001 to 2011, representing the 36th Assembly District of Chester, Deep River, Essex, and Haddam, during which he served for two years as co-chairman of the Government Administration and Elections Committee and as vice chair of the Judiciary Committee. He is a graduate of Williams College, where he received his Bachelor of Arts in History, and the University of Connecticut School of Law, where he received his Juris Doctor degree.

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