Top best E Lawyers in ZIP 06103 | 893 available

Brandy Thomas is an attorney with Freed Marcroft, LLC. She focuses her practice on family law including divorce and child custody, adoption and mediation.. After working in New York City law firms throughout her undergraduate years at Fordham, Brandy headed to law school and focused about 75% of her studies on divorce, family law, and representing children.. It is no surprise that Brandy has spent the better part of a decade focusing the majority of her law practice on divorce and family law, advocating for clients in Trial Courts throughout Connecticut all the way up to the Appellate Court. Brandy is also an accomplished divorce mediator.. Brandy finds deep meaning in guiding our clients through what is often one of the most challenging times in their lives and helping them find happiness on the other side. One of her greatest honors is empowering clients to realize that they are strong enough to handle the divorce process, and that they and their children can and will thrive in the future.

Bill Ronalter is a board certified civil trial advocate by the National Board of Trial Advocacy.  His practice is devoted to representing individuals who have sustained substantial personal injuries and wrongful death cases. He has over 30 years of experience handling personal injury cases in various roles, including plaintiff’s attorney, defense attorney, and as a consultant for an insurance company. Bill managed cases throughout the country involving catastrophic injuries including death, paralysis, traumatic brain injuries, amputations, and burns. Bill has experience in the following types of cases: accidents involving motor vehicles, motorcycles, bicycles, and pedestrians (including DUI cases), uninsured and underinsured motorist claims, defective products (including burns caused by defective lithium ion batteries in ecigarettes, laptops, and cell phones), premises liability, construction accidents,  drowning, dental and medical malpractice, nursing home negligence, sexual abuse, and wrongful arrest/imprisonment cases. He was involved in cases arising out of the 9/11 attacks and the Rhode Island Nightclub fire. He has served as an expert witness and testified regarding proper claim handling practices. Bill has also served as a guest lecturer (2009-2012) and an adjunct professor (2013-present) at the University of Connecticut School of Law, Trial Practice Class.  He also is a guest lecturer at Qunnipiac School of Law.  He also has taught numerous legal seminars for trial attorneys throughout the State of Connecticut.. Distinctions. Teaching Positions. Professional Affiliations

Before starting his own office, A. Paul Spinella practiced law with one of Connecticut's most prominent law firms where he was a partner in charge of litigation. During that time he represented many of the state's largest insurance companies before developing his present plaintiffs-based practice.. A particular area of Attorney Spinella's practice is the area of criminal trial and appellate practice. He is the author ofConnecticut Criminal Procedure, a 1,000-page textbook that examines the history, development, and existing state of the law of criminal procedure. First published in 1985, this text was the result of four years of labor—it has recently been supplemented two times and is presently undergoing additional revisions.. In addition to his scholarly pursuits, Attorney Spinella is a litigator who has had enormous experience in the trenches-in the area of criminal defense he has a long history representing individuals accused of white collar and violent offenses during the pre-trial and trial stages of prosecution, as well as appeals of criminal convictions and post-conviction attacks by way of habeas corpus claims.. As a result of his zealous defense of the citizen accused, Attorney Spinella has developed a substantial practice prosecuting claims on behalf of citizens who have had their rights violated by law enforcement, municipalities, government agencies and officials, and powerful corporate interests. His practice also includes complex civil damage lawsuits involving claims of negligence such as professional malpractice and defective product claims, as well as personal injury lawsuits of all types, particularly wrongful death claims.. Attorney Spinella has lectured widely in the areas of plaintiffs' rights, police misconduct and civil rights, and criminal defense issues. In addition, he has participated in numerous professional organizations devoted to these and related areas. For example, he is a longtime member of the Connecticut Bar Association, where he served as a member of the House of Delegates. He is presently a member of the Executive Committee of the Civil Rights Section and has previously served as Chairman; during his tenure as Chairman he organized and chaired a highly regarded seminar that greatly influenced the development of state Constitutional jurisprudence. He has also served previously and presently on a number of other State Bar Committees such as the Executive Committee of the Criminal Justice Section and the Executive Committee of the Professional Responsibility Section. He is also a member of the Hartford Bar Association (where he presently serves on the Scholarship Fund) as well as a number of other state and national organizations devoted to civil and criminal trial practice such as the Connecticut Criminal Defense Lawyers Association (former chair of Lawyer's Assistance Task Force) and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (Lifetime member). He is also active in the Connecticut Trial Lawyers Association.. Throughout his career, Attorney Spinella has experience in a wide range of plaintiffs' cases, particularly in the areas of individual rights as well as in cases involving the criminally accused. He feels strongly that there are two types of courtroom advocates —litigators and trial lawyers. A trial lawyer cares about results and will go to the mat to vindicate his client's rights because he believes in what he does and sees himself as a member of a profession with a great history; for a civil rights lawyer, the "business of law" always follows the need to advance the goals of a noble profession. Attorney Spinella is a trial lawyer.. He is a graduate of Trinity College and the University of Connecticut Law School where he served as an associate editor of the Law Review and as a member of the National Moot Court Team. Following law school he served an appointment as a law clerk to a Federal District Court judge.

Attorney Virginia Gillette is a member in good standing of the Connecticut State Bar and admitted to practice before the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut. Her practice includes matters related to criminal investigations, arrests, plea negotiations, trials, and post-conviction appeals for a variety of cases ranging from misdemeanor offenses, DWI, larcenies, and domestic violence to serious felony matters, assault, sexual assault, and homicide. Virginia joined Brown Paindiris & Scott in September 2024. Prior to BPS, she worked at two private firms, focusing on criminal defense and post-conviction proceedings.

Attorney Trent LaLima a partner at Brown Paindiris & Scott's Hartford office. He has significant experience handling high-profile cases throughout the state of Connecticut. In 2013, Attorney LaLima began his career at the then-named The Law Offices of Hubert J. Santos. He worked directly with Attorney Santos on cases that ranged from DUI/DWI and domestic violence to murder and other serious violent or sexual assault felonies. He worked on appeals, and handled both state and federal cases. Other than criminal defense, Attorney LaLima also handled personal injury, civil cases, business disputes, juvenile matters, and administrative hearings including school disciplinary proceedings. Attorney LaLima has represented clients in Hartford, New Haven, and to all four corners of Connecticut. He has experience in trials, negotiating plea deals, achieving dismissals and erased records for defendants, helping clients who have not been charged to avoid arrest, and arguing in front of Connecticut's Appellate Court and Supreme Court.. Attorney Santos served as an invaluable mentor for Attorney LaLima for eight years. After six years, Attorney LaLima became a partner at the firm, and it was renamed Santos & LaLima, P.C. After Attorney Santos passed away in 2021, he left the firm to Attorney LaLima to become the sole owner. Attorney LaLima joined Brown Paindiris & Scott in 2024 as a partner in their criminal defense department and appeals department. Attorney LaLima looks forward to continuing the demonstrate the values he has developed as an attorney, including being creative and bold in defending their clients' legal rights, treating clients with respect, using plainspoken straight talk, and ensuring every case receives the attention and personal touch it deserves.. Attorney LaLima has served in numerous leadership positions in legal organizations through Connecticut. He has been the Chair of multiple capacities in the Connecticut Bar Association, including the Criminal Justice Section, is the co-Chair of the Hartford County Bar Association's Criminal Committee, and is the Chair of Annual Criminal Litigation Seminar organized by the Connecticut Trial Lawyer's Association. He has been the Continuing Legal Education Director for the Connecticut Bar Association, and has been a panelist at multiple legal education seminars. He has been featured as a legal analyst on NBC Connecticut. His peers have rated him AV Preeminent at Martindale-Hubbell, the highest rating for professional excellence, skill, integrity, and ethical standards. A lifelong Connecticut resident and UConn graduate, he lives in West Hartford. In his spare time, he serves on the board and coaches for West Hartford youth basketball, and supports the UConn Huskies.

Attorney Ronald Scott has been practicing law in Connecticut for over 30 years and joined Brown, Paindiris & Scott in 1978. His principal area of practice is Connecticut Family Law and Connecticut Divorce Law. He is highly skilled in matters concerning divorce, child custody and financial support, and is recognized as a leader in these areas. He is also a skilled and experienced personal injury attorney.. Attorney Scott is admitted to practice in Connecticut and is a member of the American Bar Association and Hartford County Bar Association, the Connecticut Trial Lawyers Association, the Association of Trial Lawyers of America, and a charter member of the Collaborative Divorce Lawyers Association. He has been designated by his peers to"Connecticut Super Lawyer" in the Connecticut Super Lawyer Magazine, Family Law, 2008-2009, 2011-2015.

Attorney McClain practices in the areas of education, municipal, labor, and employment law. In all areas of practice, he exclusively represents the interests of management, including a broad array of both public and private sector clients, from corporations and individual business owners, to Connecticut boards of education, schools, and municipalities. Attorney McClain provides counsel on a full range of workplace and employment law issues such as hiring, termination, discipline, investigations, employee relations, benefits, wage and hour matters, compliance with state and federal laws, and internal policies and procedures. His labor practice involves negotiating collective bargaining agreements, contract administration, and labor relations, including defending management in grievance arbitration and unfair labor practice matters. In the public sector, he often provides advice unique to municipalities, boards of education, and other public agencies including information requests and meeting procedures under the Connecticut Freedom of Information Act and federal and state constitutional concerns.. A significant portion of Attorney McClain’s practice is dedicated to education law, advising boards of education and schools and their superintendents and other administrators on both traditional labor and employment law issues within the school context, as well education-specific topics like student conduct and discipline including expulsion hearings, school accommodations matters such as residency determinations, student records, teacher discipline, tenure, and termination, compliance with state and federal education laws, special education matters under the IDEA and Section 504, and board, district, and school policy and governance.

Attorney Christie is licensed to practice in Connecticut and is a member of the American Bar Association, and Connecticut Bar Association.  She has Bachelor’s Degree from Wesleyan University and a Juris Doctor Degree from Quinnipiac University School of Law.  Attorney Christie graduated from law school with honors.  She also has a Certificate in Theology.  Attorney Christie has been an active member of a church for over 20 years.  In her youth, she served as Sunday School teacher and Pastoral Committee Secretary.  Recently, Attorney Christie served as the Chairperson of the Evangelism Board of Phillips Metropolitan CME Church and continues to work on that Board.  She also has served as a trustee at Phillips as well.   Attorney Christie was employed as a social worker and social work supervisor at the Department of Children and Families for eleven years.  As an employee at DCF, she was a staunch supporter of the rights of both parents and children, especially those children with special needs.  Attorney Christie was recently a prosecutor in the Tolland Judicial District for the past twelve years.  During her tenure as a prosecutor, she managed the Youthful Offender Docket, conducted over twenty trials, and successfully negotiated over 1000 cases towards a disposition without a trial.  As a prosecutor, she also managed many of the grave or complicated domestic violence cases, which often involved divorce and child custody issues.  Attorney Christie opened The Christie Law Firm because she wanted to take all of her knowledge and experience a step further in helping to build stronger faith-based organizations, and families, which aids in building stronger communities.

Attorney Bruce Newman has been practicing law for over 25 years and concentrates his practice in the areas of personal injury, wrongful death, employment litigation, medical malpractice, product liability, and class actions where he has served as plaintiff's class counsel and liaison counsel. He is a Lifetime Member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum, which is composed of a select group of lawyers who have achieved million dollar verdicts and settlements in personal injury and wrongful death cases. In addition to Connecticut, he has successfully tried cases in New York and California. Based on his accomplishments, Bruce Newman was selected by the National Trial Lawyers as a Top 100 Lawyer for 2013, 2014, and 2015. He was recently ranked as being in the Top 1% of all attorneys by the National Association of Distinguished Counsel.. Attorney Newman presently serves as plaintiff's class counsel in an action where a tentative $6.5 million settlement was reached in Adkins, et al. v. Nestle Purina Petcare Company, et al., pending in US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. He has served as trial counsel for a number of successful verdicts including a case where the Second Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed and upheld a judgment of over $2.2 million for a client in a whistle-blower and freedom of speech case against Pfizer, Inc. He was also a signatory to a mediation agreement that resulted in a $24 million settlement in the Pet Food Product Liability Litigation.. Every case is different as to facts and circumstances and results will vary from one case to another. The announcement of the results of any one particular case should not be taken as to imply, or guarantee, certain results in any other case.. In addition to being a skilled advocate, Attorney Newman is a compassionate litigator and strives to give his clients personalized attention through the prosecution and handling of injury, accident and wrongful death claims. This is of course vital when the lives of individuals and loved ones have been dramatically changed through no fault of their own. Furthermore, through his experience in representing over 1,000 victims of accidents, he is familiar with the unique nature of all types of traumatic injuries and their long-term repercussions.. Mr. Newman has been a guest lecturer at the UConn School of Law. He has served as a volunteer in the past in support of a number of organizations, including those supporting Veteran's causes and Boy Scouts of America. Attorney Newman also recently appeared on a segment of NBC's Troubleshooters.

As an experienced business and financial services attorney with over 17 years of experience, I have built a practice around representing business clients in both litigation and transactional matters, including consumer and commercial collections. I have also built a nationwide practice focusing on representing individual investors and financial advisors nationwide in FINRA arbitration and securities litigation matters.. I hold a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a concentration in business management and a law degree from the Pepperdine University School of Law where the focus of my legal studies was on securities and corporate law. I am a member of the State Bars of Connecticut, California, Illinois, and Wisconsin.

Andrew J. Even focuses his practice on representing large and small employers, insurance companies, and third-party administrators in workers’ compensation claims before the Connecticut Workers’ Compensation Commission. He advises clients throughout the claims process, including informal, pre-formal, and formal hearings, and is fluent in all stages of litigation, including conducting depositions.. Andrew gained valuable experience as a summer associate in the law and regulatory affairs department of a large international health insurer, where he conducted extensive research and analysis of health care reform issues, counseled clients on behavioral health insurance issues, and handled contracts. Andrew also served as a law clerk with the Massachusetts Port Authority Labor Relations Department, where he drafted management responses to disciplinary and contractual grievances and aided with arbitration hearings and collective bargaining resolutions.. Before entering law school, Andrew earned a bachelor’s from Saint Anselm College. He went on to graduate with his J.D. from Suffolk University Law School, where he participated in the Health Law Clinical Program and served as chief case law comment editor for the Journal of Health and Biomedical Law.

Alan J. Sobol is a member of Pullman & Comley’s Litigation Department and White Collar, Criminal Defense and Corporate Investigations practice.  He also serves in the firm's Health Care and Construction practices.Alan has represented both corporate and individual clients in federal and state health care, Medicare and Medicaid fraud and enforcement, physician and pharmacist licensing, federal fraud and false claims, federal insider trading and securities, financial fraud, structuring, tax, anti-trust, federal and state racketeering and public corruption cases.Alan’s criminal defense practice includes representation in conspiracy and drug trafficking, money laundering, bank robbery, identity theft, computer crimes, larceny, assault, forfeiture, immigration, and domestic cases. In his civil litigation practice, he represents commercial clients in contracts and business disputes including the defense of class action lawsuits.  He has national experience in construction and surety litigation representing owners, contractors, design professionals, insurance companies, and sureties on public and private construction projects, with experience in government contract, surety performance, and payment bond cases in federal and state court. Earlier in his career, Alan was a trial attorney, Criminal Division, a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney, and a prosecutor, for the General Litigation Section, U.S. Department of Justice, in Washington, D.C.  In this role, he represented the government's interest on-site for the Mariel, Cuba refugee boat lift, to Key West, Florida, directing federal criminal law enforcement when the U.S. government sought to interdict and terminate the operation for violation of U.S. laws. In addition he indicted and prosecuted in a jury trial a federal criminal defendant involved in the Jonestown, Guyana murder/assault of U.S. Congressman Leo Ryan, diplomats, press members and others on a trip bringing back defectors from the Rev. Jim Jones' Jonestown encampment. He has been a member of the Criminal Justice Section's Executive Committee, Federal Practice, and Construction Law sections of the Connecticut Bar Association. He also has been a member of the Criminal Law Section, Litigation Section, and the Forum on the Construction Industry of the American Bar Association. Alan has been listed in Who’s Who in American Law. He is a Diplomat in the National Institute of Trial Advocacy and a U.S. Attorney General's Honor Law Graduate Program Attorney.. Alan  is the author of “Staying on Top of the Issues: New Developments for White Collar Lawyers and Their Clients,” a chapter in Managing White Collar Issues:  Leading Lawyers on Understanding Recent Notable Cases, Establishing Key Defense Strategies, and Developing Client Relationships (Thomson Reuters/Aspatore Books 2011) released in December, 2010.  He is a frequent speaker on health care fraud and abuse and related enforcement topics.