Margot Knab ’17 has been promoted to partner at Colligan Law LLP in Buffalo. Knab’s practice relates primarily to corporate and business law. She works with businesses of all sizes, startups, entrepreneurs and investors, assisting with mergers and acquisitions, labor and employment, and intellectual property matters.
Author: Nearhos, Diana C
Two Alumnae Promoted to Partner at Cantor Colburn
Ali Caless ’17 and Nancy Kennedy ’05 have been promoted to partner at Cantor Colburn LLP. Caless is a trademark and copyright attorney working out of the Hartford office. Kennedy manages domestic and international trademark, copyright, trade dress, domain name and other cyberlaw matters, also out of the Hartford office. She teaches at UConn Law as a visiting professor from practice.
Jeremy Potter ’12 Named President of titleLOOK
Jeremy Potter ’12 has been named to the new position of president of titleLOOK, having previously served as the company’s strategic advisor. TitleLOOK works in the title production process and creates a new web-based standard for commitments and preliminary reports. Potter also currently holds Board of Directors seats for CATIC Financial Inc., bundle, a Knox Capital company and the Massachusetts Mortgage Bankers Association.
Francesco Mioli ’17 Elected President of Connecticut Italian American Bar Association
Francesco Mioli ’17 was elected to serve a two-year term as president of the Connecticut Italian American Bar Association. Mioli is a member of the Robinson & Cole LLP’s Real Estate and Development Group, working out of the Stamford office.
Curtis Tearte ’78 Honored by Brandeis
Curtis Tearte ’78 is being recognized with a 2023 Alumni Achievement Award from Brandeis University, where he earned his BA in 1973. Brandeis is honoring Tearte during the school’s 75th anniversary celebration for his business and philanthropic leadership. Tearte worked at IBM for more than 30 years and served on the company’s Worldwide Management Committee, composed of the top 60 IBM senior executives. He is now chairman of the Tearte Family Foundation, which helps underrepresented students complete high school and pursue post-secondary education. Tearte has served on the Brandeis Board of Trustees and the board of the University of Connecticut Law School Foundation.
2023 Graduate: Bryce Simmons
Ryan O’Donnell ’07 Joins Pullman & Comley
Ryan O’Donnell ’07 has joined Pullman & Comley LLC as a member and chair of the firm’s new Hospitality practice group. He works in the Labor and Employment practice and is counsel to the Connecticut Restaurant Association and the Connecticut Lodging Association.
Christopher F. Droney ’79 Opens Independent Firm
Christopher F. Droney ’79, retired judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, has left Day Pitney LLP to open his own independent firm in West Hartford. Droney joined Day Pitney as a partner in 2020, having served on the Second Circuit from 2011 to 2019, and before that was a district judge and U.S. attorney for Connecticut. Additionally, he served as an arbitrator for the National Football League. Droney told the Connecticut Law Tribune that being independent will help him avoid conflicts inherent in working at a large firm.
Kelly Kirby Ballentine ’13 Selected for Bar Association Initiative
Kelly Kirby Ballentine ’13, an associate in the Boston office of Burns & Levinson, has been selected to take part in the Women’s Bar Association of Massachusetts’ 2023 Women’s Leadership Initiative. The program provides leadership development and mentoring. Ballentine works in the firm’s Business Litigation & Dispute Resolution Group.
Natalie Braswell ’07 Named Governor’s General Counsel
Natalie Braswell ’07 has been named Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont’s general counsel for his second term, starting in January 2023. She has served as Connecticut’s comptroller since Lamont appointed her to that post in December 2021. She previously served as general counsel in the comptroller’s office for 10 years and as chief of planning, legal and regulatory affairs at the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.