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March 4, 2024

Former Hartford mayor among Lamont’s 22 CT Superior Court judge nominations

POOL PHOTO/STEPHEN DUNN / HARTFORD COURANT Luke Bronin, left, and Pedro Segarra before a debate in the 2015 mayoral election.
By Mark Pazniokas, CT Mirror

Gov. Ned Lamont on Friday nominated 13 women and nine men as judges of the Superior Court, including Hartford’s former mayor, Pedro E. Segarra, and the lieutenant governor’s general counsel, Christine Jean-Louis.

“This group of nominees I am forwarding to the legislature today continues this administration’s effort to ensure that the people who are serving as judges in our state reflect the diversity, experience and understanding of the people who live here,” Lamont said.

More than one-third of the nominees are racial or ethnic minorities, including two Hispanic women, one Hispanic man, two Black women, one Black man, an Asian woman and a Middle Eastern woman.

Ten are from the public sector, including three state prosecutors and three lawyers from the state attorney general’s office. Two are former public defenders, and two serve on the board overseeing legal aid in Hartford and New Haven. A dozen are in private practice.

Lamont has been urged by advocates to seek diversity of experience in the law, as well as in race and gender.

The class is Lamont’s fourth major group of nominees to the state’s trial court since taking office five years ago. Thirty-five of the 185 authorized positions in the Superior Court are vacant.

All face hearings before the legislature’s Judiciary Committee, and their nominations are subject to a vote in both chambers of the General Assembly. Lamont was limited to a pool of candidates who have been interviewed and approved by the Judicial Selection Commission.

At 64, Segarra is the oldest of the nominees. As council president, he automatically succeeded Eddie A. Perez when Perez resigned as Hartford’s mayor in 2010. Segarra won a four-term term in 2011 and was unseated in 2015 by Luke Bronin.

Segarra has been an administrative law judge on workers’ compensation since 2018, appointed by former Gov. Dannel P. Malloy. He is a graduate of the University of Hartford and the University of Connecticut School of Law. He is a former Hartford corporation counsel and former state prosecutor.

The other nominees are:

  • Nicole Anker, 51, of Glastonbury, a graduate of Yale and the University of Connecticut School of Law. She is legal director for the Connecticut Department of Correction.
  • Tamar R. Birckhead, 58, of Hartford, a graduate of Yale and Harvard Law School. She is a solo practitioner in private practice, a former faculty member at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Law and a former public defender in Massachusetts.
  • Corrine A. Boni-Vendola, 58, of Wallingford, a graduate of Boston University and the Massachusetts School of Law School. She is a partner at Charles and Boni-Vendola, focusing on family law. 
  • Kristin A. Connors, 57, of Newtown, a graduate of Villanova University and the University of Connecticut School of Law. She is a partner at Stockman O’Connor Connors with a background in complex litigation focused on medical malpractice and product liability.
  • Steven R. Dembo, 58, of Bloomfield, a graduate of State University of New York at Binghamton and Western New England College School of Law. He is a partner and trial and appellate lawyer at Berman Mickelson Dembo and Jacobs.
  • Cody N. Guarnieri, 37, of South Windsor, a graduate of Eastern Connecticut State University and the University of Connecticut School of Law. He is a partner and trial attorney at Brown, Paindiris and Scott.
  • Christine Jean-Louis, 42, of Wallingford, a graduate of New York University and the University of Connecticut School of Law. She is general counsel to Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz and is a former assistant attorney general, defense lawyer and clerk to state appellate and federal district judges.
  • Devant J. Joiner, 54, of Middletown, a graduate of Saint John’s University and Quinnipiac University School of Law. He is a senior assistant state’s attorney in New Britain Superior Court. 
  • Cristina M. Lopez, 46, of Wethersfield, a graduate of Middlebury College and Boston University School of Law. She is senior counsel at The Hartford and previously worked in private practice, representing policyholders in insurance litigation and plaintiffs in personal injury actions.
  • Sara Nadim, 40, of Unionville, a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Connecticut School of Law. She is an assistant attorney general in the antitrust division and a former public defender. 
  • Matthew Necci, 42, of Glastonbury, a graduate of the University of Connecticut and New York Law School. He currently is of counsel at the Montstream Law Group and a former partner at Halloran and Sage, where he chaired the workers’ compensation practice. He is chairman of the board for Special Olympics Connecticut.
  • Susan E. Nugent, 62, of Hamden, a graduate of Fordham University and The Catholic University of America Columbus School of Law. She is a partner at Murphy and Nugent in New Haven and is the assistant clerk of the Connecticut Senate.
  • John Regan, 62, of Greenwich, a graduate of Siena College and Quinnipiac University School of Law. He is a solo practitioner and chairman of the St. John Urban Development Corporation, which provides affordable housing in Stamford.
  • Maria C. Rodriguez, 59, of West Hartford, a graduate of Trinity College and Boston College Law School. She practices labor law as an assistant attorney general.
  • Adam R. Schibley, 38, of Windsor, a graduate of Saint Anselm College and Quinnipiac University School of Law. He is a permanent law clerk at the Connecticut Supreme Court.
  • Eric P. Smith, 53, of Litchfield, a graduate of the University of New Haven and Quinnipiac University School of Law. He is a partner and trial lawyer at Faxon Law Group, primarily representing plaintiffs in medical malpractice cases. He is a director on the board of New Haven Legal Assistance Association.
  • Alayna M. Stone, 41, of New Haven, a graduate of Yale and the Georgetown University Law Center. She also has a master’s degree from the Georgetown McCourt School of Public Policy. She is an associate attorney general and chief of civil litigation at the Office of the Attorney General.
  • Melissa L. Streeto, 51, of Wethersfield, a graduate of Holy Cross College and Quinnipiac University Law School. She is a senior assistant state’s attorney handling criminal appeals. She is president of the Connecticut Association of Prosecutors.
  • Nicole J. Tung, 54, of Cheshire, a graduate of State University of New York at Stony Brook and the University of Connecticut School of Law. She is a partner at Halloran Sage, primarily handling general liability and insurance defense matters, She serves on the Board for Friends of Yale New Haven Children’s Hospital.
  • Matthew T. Wax-Krell, 44, of West Hartford, a graduate of Emory University and the University of Connecticut School of Law. He is a partner at Rogin Nassau, focusing on business litigation. He serves on the Connecticut Bar Examining Committee, the board of directors for Greater Hartford Legal Aid, and the board of directors for the West Hartford Little League.
  • Colleen Zingaro, 57, of Newtown, a graduate of Manhattan College and Quinnipiac University School of Law. She is a state prosecutor and supervisor of the Violent Crime Unit in the Bridgeport Judicial District.

Lamont also nominated a family support magistrate nominee:

  • Jessica W. Simpson, 37, of Windsor, a graduate of Hampton University and Western New England University. She is an assistant attorney general working on child support and collections.

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