Speakers

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MARK YOUR CALENDARS NOW!!!

Join us on September 24th at our Annual Women's Caucus Fall Dinner.  Enjoy cocktails and dinner overlooking the Connecticut shoreline at the lovely renovated Madison Beach Hotel while socializing with colleagues and gaining insight and perspective from prominent female judges. We are delighted to welcome Judge Christine Keller, Appellate Court, Judge Maureen Murphy, Superior Court, and Judge Hope Seeley, Superior Court who will convey their experiences, lessons learned, knowledge and wisdom.

Cocktail Reception: 5:30 pm
Dinner: 6:30 pm

The Honorable Christine E. Keller

On January 24, 2013, Judge Keller was nominated by Governor Dannel P. Malloy to be a judge of the Appellate Court; the General Assembly approved her nomination on March 6, 2013.  Prior to her appointment to the Appellate Court, Judge Keller was a Superior Court Judge, having been appointed by Governor Lowell P. Weicker in 1993, and a Family Support Magistrate, having been appointed by Governor William A. O’Neill in 1989.

Since her appointment as a Connecticut Superior Court Judge, Judge Keller has served as Presiding Judge in both the Hartford and Plainville juvenile courts, and has also served terms in Waterbury criminal court, New Britain civil and family courts and Hartford criminal and civil courts. From 1997 to 2002, she served as the Chief Administrative Judge for Juvenile Matters at the Hartford and Middletown Courts. 
 
In 2005, she was appointed Administrative Judge for the Judicial District of Hartford, a position she held until 2007, when she was reappointed to her former position as Chief Administrative Judge for Juvenile Matters.  In 2008, the Connecticut Bar Association awarded Judge Keller the Henry J. Naruk Judiciary Award, presented annually to a Connecticut judge for judicial excellence.
 
Judge Keller serves or has served on a number of task forces and committees affecting juvenile issues including the Juvenile Justice Advisory Committee and the Child Advocate Advisory Board. She has also served on the Court Improvement Project Advisory Board and the Governor’s Task Force on Judicial Reform, which addressed openness in the Judicial Branch.
 
From 1997 to 2005, Judge Keller was a member of the Superior Court Rules Committee. She also served as chair of a task force to recommend revisions to the juvenile rules of practice and a member of a subcommittee proposing revisions to the Code of Judicial Conduct.
 
Prior to her appointment as a Family Support Magistrate and after graduation from law school, Judge Keller practiced family, personal injury and real estate law at Neighborhood Legal Services in Hartford and subsequently worked at the Office of the Corporation Counsel for the City of Hartford and the law firm of Ritter and Keller.
 
Judge Keller is a member of the Connecticut and Hartford County Bar Associations and the Connecticut Judges Association, where she has held the offices of secretary and vice-president. She was a member of the Judicial Review Council, the state disciplinary body for judges, from 2006 to 2008.
 
Judge Keller has served as a faculty member of the Connecticut Judges’ Institute, conducting three seminars on judicial ethics and juvenile law for other Connecticut judges. She has lectured on juvenile topics in numerous attorney training programs. She is also a James Cooper Fellow of the Connecticut Bar Foundation and former president of the Hartford chapter of the Inns of Court, a networking and training group for newly admitted attorneys.

The Honorable Maureen M. Murphy

The Honorable Maureen McCabe Murphy was appointed to the Connecticut Superior Court in 2012. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree from St. Mary’s College in Notre Dame, Indiana in 1972, and her Master of Science degree from Southern Connecticut State University in 1982. She received her Juris Doctor degree from Quinnipiac University School of Law in 1986, and her Master of Laws degree from New York University School of Law in 1990.

Prior to her appointment in 2012, Judge Murphy was an attorney in private practice at Murphy Murphy & Nugent LLC specializing in civil rights, employment law, title IX, special education law, family law, victim’s rights, and lesbian & gay legal rights. From January 1998 to October 2000, she was an attorney at the Law Offices of Maureen M. Murphy, and from May 1990 to December 1997, was an associate at Greenfield & Murphy, focusing on discrimination, individual rights, and family law in state and federal courts. She was also an associate at Greenfield, Krick & Jacobs from December 1989 to April 1990. Before practicing law privately, Judge Murphy was an Assistant Attorney General for the State of Connecticut, representing the Department of Children and Youth Services and the State Board of Education, and serving as employment law and general counsel for Southern Connecticut State University and Western Connecticut State University.

Judge Murphy co-founded the New Haven Academy for Child Advocacy in 2008. From 2003 to 2010 she was a board member for Liberty Community Services, serving as vice president from 2004 to 2007 and president from 2007 to 2010. She served as vice president of Love Makes a Family from 2002 to 2005, and as a board member of the Connecticut Women’s Education and Legal Fund beginning in 1997. In 1992 she co-founded the Connecticut Lesbian and Gay Law Association and co-chaired until 2002. She also served as co-chair of the Women’s Law Student Association at the University of Bridgeport School of Law in 1985, as co-coordinator of the Statewide Take Back the Night Coalition from 1984 to 1985, as board member of the Women’s Self Defense Alliance in 1985, and as board member and secretary of the Meriden-Wallingford Chrysalis from 1988 to 1990.

The Honorable 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.

Judge Seeley was nominated to be a Judge of the Superior Court by Governor Dannel P. Malloy on January 24, 2013, and the General Assembly approved her nomination on March 6, 2013. She currently is assigned to the criminal jury docket for the Judicial District of Windham in Danielson.

Prior to Judge Seeley’s appointment, 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 criminal and civil cases, both at the trial and appellate levels.

From 1990 until her appointment, Judge Seeley also worked as an instructor at the University of Connecticut School of Law and she lectured annually at CTLA’s Criminal Litigation Seminar, presenting the Annual Review of Significant Decisions in Criminal Law and Procedure.  

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.

Prior to her appointment to the bench, she had been listed in the criminal defense section of the Best Lawyers in America, and had been named as one of the top 50 lawyers and top 25 female lawyers in Connecticut by Super Lawyers.

Professional associations and memberships have included: the Connecticut Criminal Defense Lawyers Association (Executive Board, 1997-2004; President, 2001-2002); the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers; the Connecticut Criminal Justice Committee (chair, appointed by the Chief Justice); the Connecticut Bar Association (Executive Committee, Federal Practice Section & Criminal Justice Section, Chair), the Hartford County Bar Association; the Connecticut Trial Lawyers Association; the Connecticut Advisory Commission on Wrongful Convictions; and the Connecticut Bar Foundation.

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

Registration Fee:
CTLA Member: $65.00
Non-Member: $75.00
 

Entree Choices

Citrus Seared Salmon
Roasted Chicken Breast
Grilled Vegetable Risotto

Register online or call the CTLA office at (860) 522-4345 and please indicate entree choice.