After working as a college newspaper editor, a reporter, and a newsletter writer, Bob Brady ’78 JD was tired of the publishing world and decided to enroll in law school.
“I went to law school to get out of publishing, but I realized very quickly that I prefer publishing to the law,” he says.
So, in his last year of law school, he started a business that combined both of his passions. He launched a newsletter for human resource and personnel managers that explained employment law.
“A lot of major employment statutes and regulations had been passed in the late ’60s but there was still a lot of uncertainty about sex discrimination and age discrimination,” Brady says.
His fledgling business, Business & Legal Reports, Inc., gradually took off. Over the next 40 years, his staff grew to more than 200 and the newsletter went out to all 50 states and had a combined circulation of several hundred thousand.
Though he didn’t practice law in the traditional sense, Brady says he is grateful for his law school education, which helped launch his long and successful career. As a result, he recently decided to give back by donating $100,000 in honor of the law school’s centennial. The funds supplement a scholarship he established his honor of his late wife, Margaret F. Brady ’78 JD.
Margaret applied her legal expertise and passion as an environmentalist to land use planning. During her career, she worked in municipal planning offices in New Haven, Stamford, and Westbrook, Connecticut, keeping a sharp eye on the environmental impact of development.
“Once a project goes forward and you build something, a parking lot, a building, a garage, a road, it’s on the landscape for decades, if not centuries,” Bob Brady explains. “She believed that it was important for us, as citizens, to protect the environment, not just the environment that most people think in terms of pollution but also in terms of built-up real estate. She always worked for cities and towns trying to structure development so that it benefitted the long-term interest of the community rather than narrow interests of developers.”
Honoring Margaret’s passion, the scholarship supports students interested in environmental law. One of the first recipients was Anna Rendell-Baker ’22 JD, who graduated in May and received the scholarship for all three years of law school.
“The scholarship helped a lot during law school,” Rendell-Baker says. “I wasn’t working while attending school, so it made a big difference in both tuition and everyday living.”
Rendell-Baker, who majored in environmental policy as an undergraduate at Champlain College, explored environmental law and energy law in law school.
“I think it’s a really interesting time right now with environmentalism and the movement towards cleaner energy,” says Rendell-Baker, who works at Keegan Werlin LLP, a Boston-based energy law firm.
“Mr. Brady’s generous gift offers substantial and meaningful support for our students and environmental law programs at a moment of critical ecological importance,” Dean Eboni S. Nelson said. “I’m deeply grateful for his generosity, which exemplifies the selfless spirit of our alumni and inspires the entire UConn Law community.”
As for Brady, he sold his company a few years ago and has been enjoying retirement ever since. He plays golf and tennis and recently developed an interest in performing as a cabaret singer. He also re-married several months ago to Kathleen Callahan and the pair splits their time between Madison, Connecticut and Naples, Florida.
“We’re having a wonderful life,” he says.
