THE SUPREME COURT

Standing from left to right: Justice Nora R. Dannehy, Justice Steven D. Ecker, Chief Justice Raheem L. Mullins, and Justice Joan K. Alexander; Seated from left to right: Justice Andrew J. McDonald, Chief Justice Richard A. Robinson (retired) and Justice Gregory T. D’Auria.

 

CONNECTICUT SUPREME COURT

 

CHIEF JUSTICE RAHEEM L. MULLINS

Justice Raheem L. Mullins was nominated to the Connecticut Supreme Court on October 4, 2017, by Governor Dannel P. Malloy. He was sworn in as a Supreme Court associate justice on November 1, 2017, becoming the youngest person to be appointed to the Supreme Court. Before his appointment to the Supreme Court, Justice Mullins served as a judge on the Appellate Court and as a trial judge on the Superior Court.

Born in Middletown, Justice Mullins graduated from Watkinson School in Hartford. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology from Clark University in Worcester, Mass. in 2001 and his Juris Doctor from Northeastern University School of Law in 2004. While at Northeastern, Justice Mullins participated in the Frederick Douglass Moot Court Competition; his team won best brief award and placed fourth in the nation on the oral advocacy piece of the competition. After graduating from Northeastern, he clerked for Judge Frederick Brown on the Massachusetts Appeals Court from 2004-2005. Justice Mullins is admitted to the Bar of the United States Supreme Court as well as the Connecticut Bar.

Before becoming a judge, Justice Mullins served as an Assistant State’s Attorney for the Appellate Bureau, in the Division of Criminal Justice. In this position, he argued appeals before the Connecticut Supreme Court and Appellate Court. Before becoming an appellate prosecutor, Justice Mullins served as an Assistant Attorney General in the Child Protection Division of the Connecticut Attorney General’s Office and tried cases before judges in the Superior Court for Juvenile Matters.

Justice Mullins is currently a faculty member of the Connecticut Judicial Branch’s Civics Academy and participates in the annual Read Across America event and the Judicial Branch’s Speakers Bureau. He has been a member of the Oliver Ellsworth Inn of Court; serves as Chair to the Code of Evidence Oversight Committee, 2018 to present; is a fellow of the Connecticut Bar Foundation and is a member of the Watkinson School Board of Directors. He previously served as a member of the Young Lawyers Section of the Connecticut Bar Association, the Board of Directors for the Fund for Greater Hartford, as an Executive Committee Member of the Government Division of the Connecticut Bar Association, as a member of the Law Library Advisory Committee and the Task Force to Study the Feasibility of Amending Title 46b to Permit a Person Other Than a Family or Household member to Apply for a Restraining Order

 

CHIEF JUSTICE (retired) RICHARD A. ROBINSON

The Honorable Richard A. Robinson was born December 10, 1957 in Stamford, Connecticut. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts Degree from the University of Connecticut in 1979 and a Juris Doctor degree from West Virginia University School of Law in 1984. He was admitted to the West Virginia Bar and the Connecticut Bar, and is a member of the U.S. District Court, Northern District of West Virginia and the U.S. District Court, Connecticut.

From 1985-1988, Justice Robinson was Staff Counsel for the City of Stamford Law Department. In 1988, he became Assistant Corporation Counsel in Stamford where he remained until his appointment as a Judge of the Superior Court in 2000. He remained a Superior Court Judge for the next seven years during which time he served as Presiding Judge (Civil) for the New Britain Judicial District (May 2003-September 2006); Presiding Judge (Civil) and Assistant Administrative Judge for the Ansonia/Milford Judicial District (September 2006-September 2007); and Presiding Judge (Civil) for the Stamford Judicial District (September 2007-December 2007). He was appointed as a Judge of the Connecticut Appellate Court on December 10, 2007, a Justice of the Supreme Court on December 19, 2013 and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court on May 3, 2018.

Justice Robinson’s career is complimented by an array of public and judicial service. He served as President of the Stamford Branch of the NAACP (1988-1990); General Counsel for the Connecticut Conference of the NAACP (1988-2000); President of the Assistant Corporation Counsel’s Union (AFSCME) (1989-2000); Commissioner of the Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities (1997-2000); Chair of the Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities (1999-2000); New Haven Inn of Court member (2002-present); Judicial Education Curriculum Committee member (2002-2014); Judicial Education Committee member (2003-2014); Faculty at several Judicial Institutes as well as spring and fall lectures (2003-present); Civil Commission member (2005-2014); Court Annexed Mediator (2005-2014); Lawyers Assistance Advisory Board member (2007-present); Bench-Bar Foreclosure Committee (2007-2014); Legal Internship Committee (2013-2017); Chairperson of the Advisory Committee on Cultural Competency (2009-2022); Chairperson of the Rules Committee (2017-2018); Connecticut Bar Association Young Lawyers Section Diversity Award (2010); Connecticut Bar Association's Henry J. Naruk Judiciary Award for Integrity (2017); NAACP 100 Most Influential Blacks in Connecticut; Connecticut Bar Foundation James W. Cooper Fellows, Life Fellow; Discovering Amistad National Advisory Board; Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities’ Alvin W. Penn Award for Excellence in Leadership (2018); Ebony Magazine Power 100 Award (2018); Quinnipiac School of Law Black Student Association Thurgood Marshall Award (2019); ABOTA Judicial Excellence Award (2019); Connecticut Bar Foundation Distinguished Service Award (2020); First Vice President, National Center for State Courts; National Board of Directors of National Center for State Courts (2019-2022, 2023-2024); Conference of Chief Justices (2018-present); National Judicial Task Force to Examine State Courts’ Response to Mental Illness (2020-2022); Committee on Federal-State Jurisdiction of the Judicial Conference of the United States (2022-present).

ASSOCIATE JUSTICE ANDREW J. MCDONALD

Justice Andrew J. McDonald is a Connecticut native. Born in Stamford on March 11, 1966, he attended public schools there before entering college. After graduating from Cornell University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1988, he earned a Juris Doctor degree, with honors, from the University of Connecticut School of Law in 1991, where he served as the Managing Editor of the Connecticut Journal of International Law. Justice McDonald also holds honorary Doctor of Laws degrees from the Quinnipiac University School of Law and the Western New England University School of Law.

In January of 2013, Governor Dannel P. Malloy nominated Justice McDonald to be an associate justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court, and he was confirmed by the Connecticut General Assembly later that month. He was sworn into office on January 24, 2013. In January of 2021, Governor Ned Lamont re-nominated Justice McDonald to the Supreme Court, and later that month he was again confirmed by the General Assembly.

In addition to his service as an associate justice, Justice McDonald also serves as the Chairman of the Connecticut Criminal Justice Commission and the Chairman of the Rules Committee of the Superior Court. Justice McDonald is the senior associate justice of the Supreme Court.

Prior to his appointment to the Supreme Court, Justice McDonald served as the General Counsel to the Office of the Governor for the State of Connecticut from 2011 to 2013. In this role, he served as chief legal advisor to the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor and senior staff of the Executive Branch of government. His responsibilities included providing legal counsel and analysis on all aspects of Executive Branch functions and operations, including its interactions with the federal government and Judicial and Legislative branches of state government.

From 1991 to 2011, Justice McDonald was engaged in the private practice of law, first as an associate and then as a partner, with the firm of Pullman & Comley, LLC. He was a commercial litigator and handled all stages of litigation in federal and state courts at both the trial and appellate levels.

From January of 1999 to July of 2002, Justice McDonald additionally served as the Director of Legal Affairs and Corporation Counsel for the City of Stamford. In this capacity, he served in the Mayor's Cabinet and oversaw the administration, supervision and performance of all legal, human resource and labor relations functions of the city, and its boards, commissions and agencies.

Justice McDonald was a State Senator from 2003 to 2011. He served as the Senate Chairman of the Judiciary Committee for all eight years he was in the General Assembly. During periods of his legislative career, he also served as the Senate Vice Chairman of the Energy and Technology Committee and as a member of the Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee, the Transportation Committee, the Education Committee and the Regulations Review Committee. From 2005 to 2011, he served as Deputy Majority Leader of the Senate.

Earlier in his career, Justice McDonald served on the Stamford Board of Finance from 1995 to 1999, including serving as the board's Chairman from 1997 to 1999, and as Co-Chair of the Audit Committee from 1995 to 1997. He began his public service career in 1993 as a member of the Stamford Board of Representatives, where he served until 1995.

Justice McDonald and his husband, Charles, live in Hartford. 

 

ASSOCIATE JUSTICE GREGORY T. D'AURIA

Justice Gregory T. D'Auria is a Connecticut native. Born on June 24, 1963, Justice D'Auria was sworn in as an Associate Justice on March 8, 2017. Prior to his appointment to the Supreme Court, he had worked in the Office of the Attorney General for over twenty-three years in a variety of roles. Justice D'Auria argued dozens of appeals in state and federal appellate courts during his years of service with the Office of the Attorney General, and until just before his appointment to the Court had served as Connecticut's first Solicitor General, appointed to that position by Attorney General George Jepsen in 2011. Prior to that, he headed the Special Litigation and Charities Unit (2010-11), and also served as Associate Attorney General for Litigation (2000-09) and as an Assistant Attorney General (1993-2000). Justice D'Auria was an associate at Shipman & Goodwin from 1989 to 1993, and also served as a law clerk to Chief Justice Ellen A. Peters from 1988 to 1989.

In 2009, he was nominated and inducted as a fellow into the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers, a distinguished national organization that works to advance the administration of justice and promote the highest standards of professionalism and advocacy in appellate courts. Justice D'Auria has also served as a UCONN Moot Court instructor and was a founding director of the Connecticut Supreme Court Historical Society.

Justice D'Auria graduated from the University of Connecticut, Magna Cum Laude, in 1985, with a Bachelor of Arts degree, Phi Beta Kappa, in Political Science. He received his Juris Doctor from the University of Connecticut School of Law, with high honors, in 1988, where he also served as editor-in-chief of the Connecticut Journal of International Law. 

 

ASSOCIATE JUSTICE STEVEN D. ECKER

Justice Steven D. Ecker was born April 19, 1961, in Chicago, Illinois, and grew up in the Midwest. He received his B.A. degree from Yale University, magna cum laude, in 1984, and his J.D. from Harvard Law School, magna cum laude, in 1987. At law school, Justice Ecker was an editor of the Harvard Law Review from 1985 to 1987, and a member of the winning team in the Ames Moot Court Competition in 1987. Justice Ecker served as a law clerk to Judge Jon O. Newman of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit from 1987 to 1988.

Justice Ecker began practicing law with the New Haven firm Jacobs, Grudberg, Belt & Dow, P.C., where he worked from 1988 to 1994. Between 1994 and 2014, he practiced in Hartford with Cowdery, Ecker & Murphy, L.L.C. Justice Ecker’s private practice consisted primarily of civil litigation in trial and appellate courts, both state and federal. His cases covered a broad range of subject areas, including personal injury and business torts, constitutional law, professional ethics and discipline, family law, commercial law, and employment law. Clients included individuals, business entities, municipalities, public officials, and lawyers and law firms.

Justice Ecker was appointed to the Superior Court bench by Governor Dannel P. Malloy in 2014. He was sworn in as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court on May 3, 2018.

 

ASSOCIATE JUSTICE JOAN K. ALEXANDER

Associate Justice Joan K. Alexander was nominated by Governor Ned Lamont to the Supreme Court on April 13, 2022, and the General Assembly confirmed her appointment on April 29, 2022.

Justice Alexander is a lifelong resident of Connecticut and attended public schools in Bristol. She graduated from Yale University in 1984 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering and received her Juris Doctor degree from the University of Connecticut School of Law in 1987.

On July 20, 2020, Governor Lamont nominated her to serve on the Appellate Court. Prior to that appointment, Justice Alexander served as a Superior Court Judge for 20 years, after Governor John Rowland nominated her to the bench in 2000. As a Superior Court Judge, Justice Alexander served as the Chief Administrative Judge for the Criminal Division in Connecticut’s Judicial Branch from 2017 to 2020. She was assigned as the Administrative and Presiding Judge for criminal matters in the Fairfield Judicial District and also served as the Administrative Judge in the New Britain Judicial District. She has served as the Presiding Criminal Judge in the New Britain, Hartford, Waterbury, and Litchfield Judicial Districts and in the New Haven GA court. In addition, she served as a judge in Middletown and was assigned to the Child Protection docket in the Juvenile Division.

Along with her courtroom assignments, Justice Alexander has served as the Chair of the Sentence Review Division, the Chair of the Wiretap Committee, and the Co-Chair of the Judicial-Media Committee. She served as a member of the Rules Committee, the Criminal Jury Instructions Committee, the Judicial Review Council, and the Opioid Task Force. Justice Alexander has presented many lectures on criminal law at the Connecticut Judges' Institute and the University of Connecticut School of Law.

Prior to her appointment to the bench, Justice Alexander was a prosecutor with the Division of Criminal Justice. She was assigned to the Waterbury and Hartford State’s Attorney's offices and then became Supervisor of the Statewide Prosecution Bureau. During her time working as a prosecutor, she handled numerous homicide and arson cases.

 

ASSOCIATE JUSTICE NORA R. DANNEHY

Justice Nora R. Dannehy was nominated to the Supreme Court on September 1, 2023, by Governor Ned Lamont. She was confirmed by the Connecticut General Assembly on September 26, 2023, and sworn in as a Justice of the Supreme Court on the same day.

Justice Dannehy is a Connecticut native. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and French from Wellesley College where she was awarded the Woodrow Wilson Prize in Political Science and she was a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society. She received her Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School. Following law school, Justice Dannehy served as a Judicial Clerk for the Honorable T. Emmet Clarie of the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut. She is a member of the Bar of the State of Connecticut and the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

Immediately prior to her appointment to the Supreme Court, Justice Dannehy was engaged in the private practice of law as a partner with the firm Cowdery, Murphy, Dannehy & Healy, LLC, with a focus on internal investigations for private and public entities.

From 2021 to 2022, Justice Dannehy served as the General Counsel to the Office of Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont. In this role, she served as chief legal advisor to the Governor and members of the administration on a wide range of statutory and policy matters.

From 2019 to 2020, Justice Dannehy served as Counsel to the United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut where she provided advice and counsel to the United States Attorney on policy, investigations, and operations, and she also participated in the Attorney General Review of the origins of the Russia investigation.

From 2013 to 2019, Justice Dannehy was employed by the United Technologies Corporation (UTC) first as Associate General Counsel and then as Chief Compliance Officer, Corporate Vice President, where she managed and oversaw UTC’s Global Ethics and Compliance Unit with a focus on risk mitigation, legal compliance, and ethics.

In 2011, Justice Dannehy was appointed Deputy Attorney General for the State of Connecticut where she supervised the operations of the Office of Attorney General until 2013.

Between 1991 and 2010, Justice Dannehy served the United States Department of Justice in several roles in which she investigated and prosecuted complex white collar and public corruption matters as Supervisory Assistant United States Attorney, Special Attorney in the District of Connecticut, and becoming the first woman to serve as Acting United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut. 

In addition to her professional roles, Justice Dannehy serves as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Connecticut School of Law.

 

THE APPELLATE COURT

 

Standing from left to right: Judge Dawne G. Westbrook, Judge Robert W. Clark, Judge José A. Suarez, Judge Hope C. Seeley, Senior Judge Eliot D. Prescott; Seated from left to right: Judge Ingrid L. Moll, Judge Bethany J. Alvord, Chief Judge William H. Bright, Jr., Judge Nina F. Elgo, Judge Melanie L. Cradle.

 

CONNECTICUT APPELLATE COURT

 

CHIEF JUDGE WILLIAM H. BRIGHT, JR.

Governor Dannel P. Malloy nominated Judge William H. Bright, Jr. to the Appellate Court on October 4, 2017, and he was sworn in on November 1, 2017. Judge Bright was sworn in as Chief Judge of the Appellate Court on August 1, 2020 after being appointed to the position by Chief Justice Richard A. Robinson.

Prior to this appointment, Judge Bright served as a judge of the Superior Court, having been nominated by Governor M. Jodi Rell in January 2008. While a Superior Court Judge, Judge Bright served as the Chief Administrative Judge for the Civil Division and as the Administrative and Presiding Judge for the Tolland/Rockville Judicial District, where he heard civil, criminal and habeas corpus matters.

Judge Bright has served on a number of Judicial Branch committees, including the Civil Commission, the Client Security Fund Committee, the Civil Jury Instruction Committee, the Rules Committee, the Access to Justice Commission, and the Pro Bono Committee, which he chaired. He also served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Connecticut Bar Foundation from 2012-2021.

Prior to his appointment to the bench, Judge Bright had a distinguished career as a trial lawyer. The Columbia resident was the managing partner of McCarter & English’s Hartford law office and co-chair of the firm’s Business Litigation practice group. He also was a shareholder in Cummings & Lockwood, a member of the firm’s Board of Directors, and chair of the firm’s Litigation practice group. His practice focused on complex commercial litigation matters, including business torts, fraud, intellectual property, franchise disputes and environmental law.

Judge Bright is a graduate of Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and received his Juris Doctor from the University of Chicago Law School in 1987.

 

JUDGE BETHANY J. ALVORD

Judge Bethany J. Alvord was born in Boston, Massachusetts. She attended Colgate University, graduating cum laude in 1979, with a B.A. in International Relations. Judge Alvord then attended the University of Connecticut School of Law, where she received her Juris Doctor, with honors, in corporate law in 1982.

Prior to becoming a judge, Judge Alvord served on the Town of Suffield Zoning Board of Appeals from 1988 to 1999. She also served on the Town of Suffield Retirement Commission from 1997 to 1998.

From 1982 to 1992, Judge Alvord was employed by Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company as Second Vice President and Associate General Counsel in its Law Department. From 1993 to 1998, Judge Alvord was employed by Aetna, Inc. as the Assistant Vice President, Counsel, for the Retirement Services division.

In January of 1999, Judge Alvord was sworn in as a Family Support Magistrate for the State of Connecticut. She served as a Family Support Magistrate until 2002, when she became a Judge of the Superior Court of the State of Connecticut. During her time on the Superior Court bench, Judge Alvord served as the Presiding Judge of the Family Division in New Haven. She was also assigned to hear matters in Rockville, Tolland, Waterbury and Hartford.

In April of 2009, Governor M. Jodi Rell appointed Judge Alvord to the Appellate Court. Judge Alvord has served as a UCONN Moot Court instructor and judge. She is also a James W. Cooper Fellow of the Connecticut Bar Foundation. She serves on the Judicial Branch Executive Committee, 2018-present.

 

JUDGE NINA F. ELGO

Judge Nina F. Elgo is the first Asian Pacific American judge appointed to the Connecticut Appellate Court and was the first Asian Pacific American judge appointed to the Connecticut Superior Court.

Governor Dannel P. Malloy nominated Judge Elgo to be a judge of the Appellate Court and the General Assembly confirmed her appointment on May 25, 2017.

Prior to her appointment to the Appellate Court, Judge Elgo served as a Superior Court judge since May 5, 2004. In this role, she heard civil matters in the Hartford Judicial District and also served as presiding judge for the Child Protection Session in the Middlesex Judicial District. Additionally, she presided over criminal, juvenile and habeas corpus cases in the Hartford, Tolland and New Haven judicial districts.

Judge Elgo has served on various committees designed to improve the court system. Since 2012, she has served as a member of the Connecticut Bar Examining Committee and previously served on the Rules Committee of the Superior Court. She is a James W. Cooper Life Fellow and serves on the Education and Program Committee of the Connecticut Bar Foundation. For many years, Judge Elgo served on the Committee for Judicial Education and has been a frequent faculty member/facilitator of the Connecticut Judges’ Institute. Additionally, in 2013, Governor Malloy appointed her to represent the Judicial Branch as a member of the Connecticut team selected to participate in the Three Branch Institute on Child Social and Emotional Well-Being Initiative sponsored by the National Governors Association.

Judge Elgo is the recipient of various awards and recognitions. In 2015, Judge Elgo was honored with the Native Daughter of Norwich Award; in 2014, she was the recipient of the CT Asian Pacific American Bar Association Impact Award; and in 2013, Judge Elgo was the recipient of the Edwin Archer Randolph Diversity Award. As the first Asian Pacific American judge in Connecticut, Judge Elgo was honored in 2006 by the Connecticut Trial Lawyers Association Women’s Caucus as a "Trailblazer in the Connecticut Judiciary." She was also a recipient of the 2007 Connecticut Bar Association’s Young Lawyers Section Diversity Award.

Judge Elgo is also a member of the Swift’s Inn, a Bencher Emeritus member of the Oliver Ellsworth Inn of Court and was active for several years with the Connecticut-Pskov Russian American Rule of Law Consortium.

Judge Elgo is a first generation Filipino-American, born in Groton, CT and raised in Norwich, CT. She received her B.A. from Connecticut College in 1984 and her Juris Doctor from Georgetown University Law Center in 1990.

 

JUDGE INGRID L. MOLL

Judge Ingrid L. Moll graduated in 1995 from Wheaton College (Ill.) with bachelor of arts degrees in Political Science and French, and earned her juris doctor in 1999 from the University of Connecticut School of Law, where she served as the Editor-in-Chief of the Connecticut Law Review. After graduating from law school, Judge Moll worked as a law clerk for the late Connecticut Supreme Court Justice David M. Borden.

Nominated by Governor Dannel P. Malloy, Judge Moll was appointed as a judge of the Appellate Court on May 3, 2018, after having served as a Superior Court judge since 2014. As a Superior Court judge, Judge Moll’s assignments included the criminal divisions in the Waterbury and New Britain Judicial Districts, as well as the civil division in the Hartford Judicial District, where she presided over one of the Complex Litigation Dockets, as well as a consolidated products liability docket, which then comprised over 2,300 individual products liability cases.

Judge Moll serves as the chair of the Judicial Branch’s Client Security Fund Committee, and has served as the co-chair of the Ebriefs Transition and Development Committee and a member of the Judicial Branch’s Judicial-Media Committee and Social Media Committee. She also is a former co-chair of the Access to Justice Commission, whose charge is to promote access to justice for all people. Judge Moll completed nine years of service on the board of the Connecticut Bar Foundation, the organization that distributes IOLTA and other funding to legal services organizations representing Connecticut’s poor and that puts on programs that promote the rule of law. She also served as a Judicial Branch appointee on the Task Force to Improve Access to Legal Counsel in Civil Matters. In addition, Judge Moll is a past president of the University of Connecticut School of Law Alumni Association and a past president of the Oliver Ellsworth Inn of Court.

Prior to Judge Moll’s appointment to the bench, she was a member of Motley Rice LLC, where her practice principally focused on commercial litigation at the trial and appellate levels in state and federal courts across the country. In 2020, Judge Moll received the Connecticut Law Review's "University of Connecticut Law Review Award" for outstanding service to the legal community, and in 2019, she received the Distinguished Service Award from the University of Connecticut Law School Alumni Association. In 2009, she was named the Super Lawyers’ “New England Rising Star” in environmental litigation. In 2005, she was named one of the Hartford Business Journal’s “Forty Under 40” and also received the Connecticut Law Tribune’s New Leaders of the Law “Impact Award.”

 

JUDGE MELANIE L. CRADLE

Judge Melanie L. Cradle graduated from Adelphi University with a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology and Sociology in 1993 and earned her Juris Doctor from Seton Hall University School of Law in 1998.

Judge Cradle was appointed a Judge of the Appellate Court by Governor Ned Lamont on July 20, 2020 and her nomination was approved on August 12, 2020. Prior to this appointment and beginning in 2013, Judge Cradle served as a Superior Court judge, where she heard criminal cases in Bridgeport for a year before moving to the New Haven Judicial District in 2014. She was appointed to the position of Presiding Judge of GA 23 in New Haven in 2015, and continued to serve in that capacity until her appointment to the Appellate Court.

Judge Cradle serves on the Criminal Justice Commission and the CBA Rule of Law Committee. Judge Cradle is a member of the Swift’s Inn, a member of the New Haven Inn of Court and is a James W. Cooper Fellow with the Connecticut Bar Foundation. Additionally, Judge Cradle is an adjunct professor at the Quinnipiac University School of Law, and a member of the Judicial Branch’s Civics Academy. Judge Cradle previously served as a mentor for newly appointed judges through the Judicial Branch’s Mentor Program, an instructor for the Judicial Branch’s Pre-Bench Orientation Program, and has presented courses to her colleagues at the Connecticut Judges’ Institute. In addition, Judge Cradle served on the Rules Committee of the Superior Court from July 1, 2017 through June 30, 2020 and the Law Library Advisory Committee from July 1, 2016 through June 30, 2022.

Prior to Judge Cradle’s appointment, she was Senior Assistant State’s Attorney for the Ansonia/Milford Judicial District. She also served as Assistant State’s Attorney in the New Haven Geographical Area courthouse.

 

JUDGE JOSÉ A. SUAREZ

Judge José A. Suarez was born in San Juan Puerto Rico in 1966 and moved to Connecticut in 1977. He graduated from the University of Dayton in 1989 with a Bachelor of Arts in International Studies and received his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Connecticut School of Law in 1993.

Judge Suarez was nominated to the Appellate Court by Governor Ned Lamont on July 20, 2020 and was sworn in on August 12, 2020. Prior to his appointment, Judge Suarez served as a Superior Court judge, having been appointed by Governor M. Jodi Rell in February 2009.

While a Superior Court judge, Judge Suarez served as the Administrative Judge for the Middlesex Judicial District and the Presiding Judge for criminal and civil matters. He also served in the Hartford Judicial District as the Presiding Judge for family matters, and as a criminal trial judge. In addition, Judge Suarez heard criminal, family and juvenile matters in the Tolland Judicial District.

Prior to his appointment to the bench, Judge Suarez was an Assistant Attorney General, where he represented the State of Connecticut in complex litigation matters.

 

JUDGE ROBERT W. CLARK

Judge Robert W. Clark was born in Meriden in 1971 and was raised in Wallingford, where he attended public schools before entering college. After graduating from the University of Connecticut, cum laude, in 1993 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English, he earned a Juris Doctor degree, with high honors, from the University of Connecticut School of Law in 1997, where he served as Executive Editor of the Connecticut Law Review.

In February of 2021, Governor Ned Lamont nominated Judge Clark to be a judge of the Connecticut Appellate Court. He was confirmed by the Connecticut General Assembly in March of that year and was sworn into office on March 23, 2021. Judge Clark previously served as a Superior Court judge in the Bridgeport GA and juvenile court.

Immediately prior to his appointment to the Appellate Court, Judge Clark served as General Counsel to the Office of the Governor for the State of Connecticut from 2019 to 2021. In that role, he served as chief legal advisor to the Governor, providing legal counsel to the Governor, his senior staff, and commissioners on a broad range of state and federal legal issues, including the Executive Branch's interactions with its co-equal branches of state government and the federal government.

From 2004-2018, Judge Clark worked in the Connecticut Attorney General's Office, first as an Assistant Attorney General in the Special Litigation Department and later as Special Counsel to Attorney General George Jepsen. Prior to joining the Office of the Attorney General, Judge Clark worked for the law firms of Day, Berry & Howard LLP (now Day Pitney) and Kramer Levin, handling commercial litigation and bankruptcy matters in state and federal courts.

Judge Clark and his family reside in Durham, Connecticut.

 

JUDGE HOPE C. SEELEY

Judge Hope C. Seeley graduated from the University of Connecticut with a Bachelor of Arts, magna cum laude, in May 1986 and earned her Juris Doctor with honors from the University of Connecticut School of Law in 1989.

In April of 2022, Governor Ned Lamont nominated Judge Seeley to be a judge of the Appellate Court and she was sworn into office on May 2, 2022. Prior to this appointment, Judge Seeley served as a judge of the Superior Court, having been nominated by Governor Dannel P. Malloy on January 24, 2013. While a Superior Court Judge, she presided over criminal jury trials in the Windham and Tolland Judicial Districts, and she served as the Assistant Administrative Judge in the Tolland and Hartford Judicial Districts. She also served as the Presiding Judge for Criminal Matters in the Hartford Judicial District.

Judge Seeley has served on a number of Judicial Branch committees, including the Executive Committee, the Education Committee, the Judicial-Media Committee and the Court Visitation Committee. She also served on the Criminal Jury Instructions Committee and was the Chair from 2021-2022.

Prior to Judge Seeley’s appointment to the bench, she was a principal in the Hartford law firm of Santos & Seeley, P.C. She practiced in both the state and federal courts and was involved in a broad variety of complex criminal and civil cases, both at the trial and appellate levels. She lectured annually at CTLA’s Criminal Litigation Seminar, presenting the Annual Review of Significant Decisions in Criminal Law and Procedure. From 1990 until approximately 2005, Judge Seeley worked as an instructor at the University of Connecticut School of Law in the legal methods and moot court programs. Judge Seeley currently co-teaches a seminar class at the University of Connecticut School of Law during the fall semester, "Law and Forensic Science."

Judge Seeley was the recipient of the Maxwell Heiman Award in 1998 from the Hartford County Bar Association, the Distinguished Graduate Award in 2006 from the University of Connecticut School of Law and the Equal Justice Advocate Award in 2007. She also was inducted as a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers in 2011.

Judge Seeley volunteered as Mock Trial Coach/Attorney Advisor for King Philip Middle School, West Hartford, and for Hall High School in West Hartford for many years. During her coaching tenure, both schools won state championships. In addition, while a lawyer, she served as a member of the Greater Hartford Legal Aid Foundation and as a board member, officer and chair of Community Partners in Action.

Judge Seeley served for many years on the Board of Civics First, a non-profit organization that until recently conducted and promoted law-related education programs in Connecticut schools. Judge Seeley continues to be active in preparing the mock trial problems for the high school and middle school state-wide mock trial competitions and serves as a volunteer judge for the competitions. Judge Seeley also is active in the Oliver Ellsworth Inn of Court which is designed to improve skills, professionalism and ethics of the bench and bar, and served as its President in 2018-2019. Judge Seeley currently is a member of the Board of Lawyers Concerned For Lawyers.

 

JUDGE DAWNE G. WESTBROOK

Governor Ned Lamont nominated Judge Dawne G. Westbrook to the Appellate Court on October 12, 2023, and she was sworn in on October 27, 2023.

Prior to this appointment, Judge Westbrook served as a judge of the Superior Court, having been nominated by Governor M. Jodi Rell in February 2009. While a Superior Court Judge she served as the Chief Administrative Judge for Juvenile Matters and the Administrative Judge of the Tolland Judicial District. Judge Westbrook also presided over criminal matters in both Hartford and Manchester, family matters in Hartford, and juvenile matters in Rockville and Hartford.

Prior to becoming a judge, Judge Westbrook worked as a solo practitioner in Middletown and Glastonbury; a part-time lecturer at Manchester Community College; and as an associate at Williams & Pattis, LLC in New Haven. She also served as Assistant Commission Counsel for the State of Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities; a member of the State Grievance Panel; a facilitator for the Connecticut Commission on Children’s Parent Leadership Training Institute; a board member of the Connecticut Women’s Education and Legal Fund; and as Legal Redress Counsel for the Connecticut chapter of the NAACP.

Judge Westbrook chairs the Judicial Education Committee and serves as a member of the Connecticut Bar Foundation, Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers’ Board of Directors, and the Judicial-Media Committee. She previously served as a member of the Public Service and Trust Commission, Client Security Fund Committee, the Executive Committee, the Human Capital Committee, and the Social Media Committee. In addition, Governor Ned Lamont appointed her, and the General Assembly approved her nomination to serve as a member of the Judicial Review Council from 2021-2023.

Judge Westbrook received her Bachelor of Arts degree in English and philosophy Magna Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa from Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee in 1992. She graduated from the Vanderbilt University School of Law in Nashville, Tennessee in 1995 and was admitted to the Connecticut Bar in 1999.

 

SENIOR JUDGE ELIOT D. PRESCOTT

Judge Eliot D. Prescott was born January 21, 1965 in New Bedford, Massachusetts. He attended St. George's School in Newport, Rhode Island, and received his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst in 1988. He graduated with high honors from the University of Connecticut School of Law in 1992.

Following law school, Judge Prescott served as the law clerk to the Honorable David M. Borden on the Connecticut Supreme Court. He also worked as an associate in the Washington, D.C. office of the law firm Fulbright & Jaworski, LLP.

In 1994, Judge Prescott returned to Connecticut where he served as an Assistant Attorney General in the Office of the Attorney General. In 2001, he became the Department Head of the Special Litigation Department within the Office of the Attorney General, where he supervised lawyers, accountants, paralegals and other support staff. During his tenure as an Assistant Attorney General, he represented the State of Connecticut in complex litigation matters in state and federal court, and argued more than 25 appeals in the Connecticut Supreme Court, Appellate Court and the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. In 2002, he received the "New Leaders of the Law" award from the Connecticut Law Tribune for outstanding government service.

Judge Prescott was appointed to the Superior Court by Governor John G. Rowland in 2004. During his time as a trial judge, Judge Prescott presided over Part A and Part B criminal trials and civil matters in various locations around the State. He also served as the Presiding Judge of the Administrative Appeals and Tax Session of the Superior Court. He served as a member of the Rules Committee of the Superior Court and the Advisory Committee on the Appellate Rules. On numerous occasions, he has served on the faculty of the annual Connecticut Judges' Institute.

From 1998 to 2015, Judge Prescott was an Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Connecticut School of Law, where he taught administrative law. He is the author of two legal treatises: Connecticut Appellate Practice and Procedure (ALM), and Tait's Handbook of Connecticut Evidence (Wolters Kluwer).

Judge Prescott was appointed to the Appellate Court in 2014 by Governor Dannel P. Malloy. He also currently serves as the co-chair of the Advisory Committee on the Appellate Rules and is a member of the Code of Evidence Oversight Committee.