Alumni

March 15, 2021 | Christa Calabretta

13 UConn Law Alumni Named Cooper Fellows

The fellowship award recognizes service to the legal profession and to the community.

Connecticut Supreme Court building

The Connecticut Supreme Court building in Hartford. (John Phelan photo)

Thirteen UConn Law alumni have been elected to the Connecticut Bar Foundation’s James W. Cooper Fellows Program in recognition of their service to the profession and the community.

“We are pleased to recognize our new Fellows for their  distinguished services to the legal profession and their commitment to the principles of equal justice  and the rule of law,” Connecticut Bar Foundation President Timothy Diemand said.

The foundation’s Board of Directors selected 35 new fellows in 2021, including these UConn Law graduates:

  • Bonnie Amendola ’92, Founder of Amendola & Amendola, LLC.
  • Jenn Bourn ’04, director of legal services at State of Connecticut, Division of Public Defender Services.
  • Meghan M. Sweeney Burns ’10, attorney at Ruel Ruel Goings & Britt.
  • Michelle M. Duprey ’93, deputy corporation counsel for employment litigation for the City of New Haven.
  • Thamar Esperance-Smith ’11, assistant attorney general at the Connecticut Office of the Attorney General.
  • Karyl Lee Hall ’91, staff attorney with the Connecticut Legal Rights Project.
  • Patricia King ’83, corporation counsel for the City of New Haven.
  • Hon. Vernon D. Oliver ’97, judge of the Superior Court of Connecticut.
  • Hon. Maureen Price-Boreland ’92, judge of the Superior Court of Connecticut.
  • Leonard Rodriguez ’94, deputy general counsel at Avangrid Networks, Inc.
  • Kelly A. Scott ’11, member at Pullman & Comley LLC.
  • Evan J. Seeman ’09, counsel at Robinson+Cole LLP.
  • Karen M. Sills ’06, vice president and corporate counsel in Prudential’s Retirement Law Group, Prudential Financial, Inc.

The James W. Cooper Fellows Program, now in its 26th year, promotes a better understanding of the legal profession and the judicial system among the citizens  of Connecticut and explores ways to improve the profession and the administration of justice. The Program is named in honor of James W. Cooper, who served as president of the CBF from 1973  to 1975.

In addition to lawyers in private practice, the group consists of U.S. Court of Appeals judges; U.S.  District Court judges; Connecticut Supreme, Appellate, and Superior Court judges; corporate counsel;  attorneys in non-profit associations and legal services agencies; and government lawyers. The  program also includes law school deans, former deans, and professors of law, past and current  leadership of the Connecticut Bar Association and other bar associations, and present and former  government leaders.