A View From The Bench: Judge Robaina

Friday, March 21, 2014

Agenda

JOIN US FOR LUNCH & A VIEW FROM THE BENCH
WITH JUDGE ROBAINA

Friday, March 21, 2014
12:00 - 1:30 pm
Shipman & Goodwin, LLP
One Constitution Plaza, Hartford

Sponsored in part by the Young Lawyer's Committee & Shipman & Goodwin, LLP

Come and participate in a discussion with Judge Robaina about his role as Presiding Judge in Hartford.  Hear his perspective on mediation, oral argument, trial scheduling and other important topics that will make you a better lawyer

The Honorable Antonio C. Robaina

The Honorable Antonio C. Robaina was appointed to the Superior Court in 1998. Judge Robaina is currently assigned as the presiding judge for civil matters in the Hartford Judicial District at 95 Washington Street.  Previously, he was the Administrative Judge in the Windham Judicial District and the presiding judge for civil matters in the New Haven Judicial District, as well as the Assistant Administrative Judge in that district.  From September 2002 to August 2003, Judge Robaina was the presiding judge for Family Matters in the Hartford Judicial District, having the largest family docket in the state.  He has served in judicial districts throughout the state as a trial judge in criminal, family, civil jury and juvenile cases.

Judge Robaina acts as a mediator in medical malpractice cases and other types of civil litigation.  He has served as the co-chairperson of a bench/bar committee with respect to medical malpractice cases.  He served as the co-chair of the Connecticut Bar Association’s Task Force on Mandatory Mentoring and will serve as a member on the follow up committee, called Mentoring Task Force II.  He is a member of the adjunct faculty at Quinnipiac University.  He has participated in the Quinnipiac Law School Externship Program and has mentored law school students through the Connecticut Hispanic Bar Association Mentoring Program. He also serves as a mentor to other judges in the Judicial Branch mentoring program.  He was a member of the Rules Committee of the Judges of the Superior Court.

He is a James Cooper Fellow of the Connecticut Bar Foundation.  He was the chairman of the Diversity Award Committee for the Lawyer’s Collaborative for Diversity.  He is the recipient of an Achievement Award from the Connecticut Hispanic Bar Association.  He is the recipient of the Judge Robert Zampano Excellence in Mediation Award given by Community Mediation, Inc., and the 2009 Connecticut Trial Lawyers Judicial Award.  

From 1979 to 1998, Judge Robaina practiced law in New Haven.  His was a general practice and included plaintiff’s personal injury, insurance defense, criminal defense, immigration law and family matters.  His partner during his entire career as a lawyer was his father.  He was a member of many organizations, including the New Haven County Bar Association, the Connecticut Trial Lawyers Association, the American Immigration Lawyers Association, the National Hispanic Bar Association and the Connecticut Bar Association. He was a one of the founders and a member of the Board of Directors of the Connecticut Hispanic Bar Association.

Judge Robaina served as the president of the board of directors of The Connection Fund, Inc., a nonprofit corporation designed to develop real estate for charitable purposes.  During his tenure, The Connection Fund completed the state’s first supportive housing project called Liberty Commons, which consists of 40 units of supportive housing in Middletown.  That organization also built supportive housing for pregnant women in Groton called Mother’s Retreat, a children’s space called Kids City in Middletown and renovated the former YWCA in New Haven to house treatment and rehabilitation facilities.

Judge Robaina also served on the board of directors of the Children’s Center, the New Haven Youth Law Education Project and was a director and the former treasurer of Casa Otanal, an elderly housing facility and center in New Haven.

Judge Robaina was the chairman of the Deep River Board of Education from 1987 to 1997, and the vice chairman of the planning and zoning commission. He served one term as the chairman of the Region Four Supervision District Board of Education and served on the district’s negotiations committee.

Judge Robaina was born in Havana, Cuba and is fluent in English and Spanish.  He is a graduate of the University of Connecticut and the University of Connecticut School of Law.

Speakers

James W. Bergenn, Esq. Shipman & Goodwin LLP
Antonio C. Robaina, Esq. McElroy, Deutsch, Mulvaney & Carpenter
William J. Ronalter, Esq. Shipman & Goodwin LLP

CLE Credits

This Continuing Legal Education program is appropriate for both newly-admitted and experienced attorneys, and has been approved for the following credits in accordance with the rule requirements of these states:

Skills
New York 1.50 cr
Connecticut 1.50 cr

Additional Information

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SHIPMAN & GOODWIN, LLP