Lavery Named Appellate Court Chief Judge

By Kaaren Valenta

William J. Lavery, a Connecticut Appellate Court judge since 1989, has been named Chief Judge of the Appellate Court.

Judge Lavery, 61, of 10 Main Street in Newtown, succeeds Judge Edward Y. O’Connell, who retired on March 12. Judge O’Connell will continue to serve the courts as a judge referee.

Francis M. McDonald, Jr, chief justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court, announced Judge Lavery’s appointment on March 14 in Hartford.

“We are pleased to have someone as talented and experienced as Judge Lavery as chief judge of the Appellate Court,” Chief Justice McDonald said. “The caseload at the Appellate Court continues to grow and the issues before it are increasingly complex. Judge Lavery has handled cases from juvenile to criminal as well as complex civil cases as a trial judge and his opinions on the Appellate Court reflect his legal knowledge and clear writing.”

Judge Lavery was appointed a Superior Court judge in 1981 and served as presiding judge in the Danbury Judicial District and chief administrative judge in Waterbury prior to his appointment to the Appellate Court in October 1989.

Comprised of nine judges, the Appellate Court reviews decisions made in the Superior Court to determine if errors of law have been committed. Generally three judges hear and decide each case, although the court also may sit en blanc (as a complete body). Like the Supreme Court, the Appellate Court does not hear witnesses, but renders its decision based upon the record, briefs, and oral arguments.

Currently there are 1,400 cases that have filed appeals with the court.

“Not all of them are ready to be heard,” Judge Lavery said. “But it is still a large caseload. It used to be 700 to 800 a year, but there are more appeals now. The court sits from September 1 through July 30. During that time we hope to hear all cases that are ready.”

The Appellate Court hears all types of cases – criminal, civil, family, housing, juvenile – everything except capital murder cases and some cases that involve disputes between towns or between towns and state agencies.

“It is interesting,” Judge Lavery said. “The judges don’t specialize – they must be able to write on any subject. Of course, we have law clerks to do research and help us out.”

Judge Lavery said he will continue to hear as many cases in his new position but he also will be responsible for assigning cases, deciding who will write the opinions, and coordinating the assignment of clerks with the judges.

“You are the coordinator. You run everything,” he said, explaining the duties of the chief judge. He said he will have an executive assistant to help him in his new position.

Judge Lavery said that until Chief Judge O’Connell retired this week, he did not know that he would take his place.

“I knew I was one of several judges who were being considered, but it was a surprise,” he said. “I am very honored by the chief justice’s appointment, and I will do my best to perform to the high standards he expects.”

Judge Lavery said he anticipates serving as chief judge until he reaches the mandatory retirement age of 70. “Then I can become a judge trial referee. We have seven or eight referees, some very brilliant minds who had served as judges for years until they reached the age of 70,” he said.  

A native of Bridgeport, Judge Lavery graduated in 1955 from Fairfield University, where he earned a bachelor of arts degree in economics and philosophy. He received his law degree from Fordham Law School in 1964, and was in private practice in Connecticut for 16 years.

He served two terms on the Bridgeport Board of Aldermen (1963-67) and two terms as a state representative (1967-71), where he served as chairman of the Legislative Public Health and Safety Committee. He was the attorney for the Housing Authority of Bridgeport from 1969 to 1972 and was counsel to the office of the speaker of the State House of Representatives from 1971 to 1973.

He moved to Newtown in 1972 and served as the town and borough attorney from 1976 to 1981. He was a director of the AIDS Project of Greater Danbury, a director of the Pope John Paul II Health Care Center in Danbury, chairman of the Newtown Scholarship Association, and currently is on the board of trustees of the Cyrenius H. Booth Library. He served as chairman of the library board’s building committee during its $4 million expansion project.

A widower, he is the father of four grown children: Sarah, who is in the master’s degree program at the Yale School of Architecture; William, a computer specialist with GTE in Cambridge, Mass.; Christopher, a consultant for the Inter-American Banking Association; and Michael, an artist who teaches art to underprivileged children in Chicago. Judge Lavery is engaged to be married to Joan Murcko, manager of the Chase Manhattan Bank in Newtown.