Lamont Nominates Judge Joan Alexander to Supreme Court

The Governor also appointed Judge Hope Seeley to Appellate Court, and 11 other

Jurists to Superior Court as well


 

Governor Ned Lamont has announced that he is nominating Judge Joan K. Alexander of Cromwell to serve as an associate justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court; Judge Hope C. Seeley of Coventry to serve as a judge of the Connecticut Appellate Court; and 11 other jurists to serve as judges of the Connecticut Superior Court.

Judge Alexander, 59, is currently a judge of the Appellate Court, where she has served since 2020. Prior to that, she served as a judge of the Superior Court since 2000. In addition to her courtroom responsibilities, she was the chief administrative judge for the Connecticut Judicial Branch’s Criminal Division, chair of the Sentence Review Division, and co-chair of the Judicial Media Committee. Before her appointment to the bench, she served as a prosecutor with the Connecticut Division of Criminal Justice. She is a graduate of Yale University and obtained her Juris Doctor degree from the University of Connecticut School of Law.

Judge Seeley, 58, is currently a judge of the Superior Court, where she has served since 2013. She is an assistant administrative judge for the Judicial District of Hartford and the presiding criminal judge. Prior to being appointed to serve in Hartford, she served as a criminal trial judge in the Windham and Tolland judicial districts. Before her appointment to the bench, she was in private practice and handled a broad variety of complex criminal cases at the trial and appellate levels, both in state and federal courts. She is a graduate of the University of Connecticut and obtained her Juris Doctor degree from the University of Connecticut School of Law.

Judge Alexander is being nominated to fill the vacancy on the Supreme Court that was created earlier this month when Justice Christine E. Keller took senior status. Judge Seeley is being nominated to fill the vacancy on the Appellate Court that is anticipated to be created upon the confirmation of Judge Alexander to the Supreme Court.

“Selecting nominees to fill vacancies on our courts is one of the most important tasks a governor is required to do, and it is an honor to have the opportunity to elevate these two talented judges to the Supreme and Appellate Courts,” Governor Lamont said. “Judge Alexander has more than two decades of experience on the bench and is an incredibly respected member of Connecticut’s legal community. Likewise, Judge Seeley has an impressive career handling criminal cases and will be an excellent addition to the Appellate Court.”

There are currently 60 judicial vacancies on the Superior Court. The 11 nominations to that court that are being announced today come in addition to 22 others that were announced in February. All of those nominations are currently pending confirmation by the state legislature.

The Superior Court nominations include:

  • Scott R. Chadwick, 59, of East Hartford: Chadwick graduated from Western New England University and obtained his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Connecticut School of Law. He is currently the probate judge for the District of East Hartford and a partner with Ford & Paulekas LLP, where his practice is focused on civil litigation matters.
  • Victoria W. Chavey, 55, of West Hartford: Chavey graduated from Dartmouth College and obtained her Juris Doctor degree from the Boston University School of Law. She is currently the owner of Chavey Legal Services, LLC, offering services as a mediator, arbitrator, and investigator. She established her own practice in 2021. She began her career with two clerkships, first with Chief Justice Peters of the Connecticut Supreme Court, and then with Senior Judge Thomas J. Meskill of the Second Circuit. For the next 27 years, she practiced at Day Pitney LLP, and then at Jackson Lewis PC, focused on employment litigation.
  • Thamar Esperance-Smith, 36, of Glastonbury: Esperance-Smith graduated from Pace University and obtained her Juris Doctor degree from the University of Connecticut School of Law. She is currently an assistant attorney general at the Connecticut Office of the Attorney General in the Child Support and Collections Department. She previously was a staff attorney at Greater Hartford Legal Aid in the Family Law Unit, where she represented victims of domestic violence. She is currently serving as the president-elect of the George W. Crawford Black Bar Association.
  • Josephine S. Graff, 46, of Glastonbury: Graff graduated from the College of the Holy Cross and obtained her Juris Doctor degree from the University of Connecticut School of Law. She is currently an assistant attorney general at the Connecticut Office of the Attorney, where she handles employment cases on behalf of the State of Connecticut. Prior to that, she worked for private firms handling insurance defense cases.
  • Jeanet Figueroa-Laskos, 53, of Shelton: Figueroa-Laskos graduated from the University of Connecticut and obtained her Juris Doctor degree from the Quinnipiac University School of Law. She is currently an assistant attorney general at the Connecticut Office of the Attorney General in the Child Protection Department. Prior to that, she was a special deputy state’s attorney, prosecuting criminal cases. She has served as a member of the Client Security Fund Committee since 2018.
  • Steven D. Jacobs, 63, of New Haven: Jacobs graduated from Trinity College and obtained his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Pittsburgh. He is currently a partner at Jacobs & Jacobs LLC. He has practiced law in the state and federal courts and agencies for more than 36 years. His practice has consisted primarily of personal injury, medical malpractice, and workers’ compensation cases. Jacobs has also handled numerous criminal and employment cases and occasionally civil rights cases.
  • Brian W. Preleski, 55, of Avon: Preleski graduated from the University of Connecticut and obtained his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Connecticut School of Law. Since 2011, he has served as the state’s attorney for the Judicial District of New Britain and has worked in various capacities for the Connecticut Division of Criminal Justice since 1993. Prior to his state service, he served as an associate at the Hartford law firm of Pepe & Hazard, where he concentrated on commercial and construction litigation.
  • Alina Marquez-Reynolds, 56, of Fairfield: Marquez-Reynolds graduated from Georgetown University and obtained her Juris Doctor degree from Boston College Law School. She is currently general counsel and justice initiative deputy director at the Grace Farms Foundation. She began her legal career as an assistant district attorney in Brooklyn, New York. From 1995 to 2019, she served as an assistant United States attorney for the District of Connecticut, where she was responsible for investigating and prosecuting violent crimes, including intimate partner violence and human trafficking cases. She served as the district’s Violence Against Women Act coordinator for her entire tenure with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, and she currently serves on the Connecticut Coalition Against Domestic Violence’s Fatality Review Task Force.
  • Charles M. Stango, 52, of Waterbury: Stango graduated from the College of the Holy Cross and obtained his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Connecticut School of Law. He currently is the supervisory assistant state’s attorney in Milford’s GA 22. He has worked in the Connecticut Division of Criminal Justice since 1998 and been assigned to criminal courts in Bridgeport and Milford. He previously worked as an associate for the law firm of Duffy and Fasano. He is currently the president of the Connecticut Association of Prosecutors.
  • Cecil J. Thomas, 40, of Coventry: Thomas graduated from Brandeis University and obtained his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Connecticut School of Law. He is currently an attorney at Greater Hartford Legal Aid, Inc., where he has spent his entire legal career representing low-income Connecticut residents, including in trial, appellate, and class action litigation in state and federal courts. He is the president of the Connecticut Bar Association and a past president of the South Asian Bar Association of Connecticut and University of Connecticut Law School Alumni Association.
  • David L. Zagaja, 57, of Wethersfield: Zagaja graduated from Trinity College and obtained his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Connecticut School of Law. He is currently a supervisory assistant state’s attorney with the Connecticut Division of Criminal Justice and has been a prosecutor with that office since 1996. He predominantly did litigation of serious felony matters in the Hartford Judicial District. Prior to becoming a prosecutor, he was an adult probation officer for eight years.
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Submitted by New Fairfield, CT

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