Speakers

Sponsorships

Special thanks to our firm Sponsor

SILVER GOLUB & TEITELL, LLC

Venue

Madison Beach Hotel, 94 West Wharf Rd., Madison CT 06443

Additional Information

All are welcome to join us on September 29th at our Annual Women's Caucus Fall Dinner.  Enjoy cocktails and dinner overlooking the Connecticut shoreline at the lovely Madison Beach Hotel while socializing with colleagues and gaining insight and perspective from prominent female judges. We are delighted to welcome U.S. Magistrate Sarah A. L. Merriam, Judge Mary E. Sommer and Judge Cynthia K. Swienton who will convey their experiences, lessons learned, knowledge and wisdom.

Honorable Sarah A. L. Merriam

Sarah A. L. Merriam moved to New Haven at an early age and grew up in that city.  She is a 1989 graduate of Hopkins School.  She received a Bachelor of Arts degree, cum laude, from Georgetown University in 1993.  She began her legal education at the University of Connecticut School of Law, where she received numerous honors and was ranked number 1 in her class.  She transferred to Yale Law School after her first year and received a Juris Doctor from Yale in 2000. 

Judge Merriam became an Assistant Federal Defender in 2007, and since that time has represented criminal defendants and witnesses in federal court in all aspects of those cases, including appeals.  Prior to becoming an Assistant Federal Defender, she served as an Associate at the law firm of Cowdery, Ecker & Murphy in Hartford; as a law clerk to Judge Thomas Meskill of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals; and as a law clerk to Judge Alvin W. Thompson of the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut.

Honorable Mary E. Sommer

The Honorable Mary E. Sommer is currently assigned to the Fairfield Judicial District, where she hears family matters. Previously, Judge Sommer heard civil matters and juvenile matters and criminal matters in the Danbury, Norwalk, Stamford and Bridgeport Courthouses.

Judge Sommer was appointed as a Superior Court judge by Governor M. Jodi Rell in May of 2008. Prior to becoming a judge, she was the founding partner in the Stamford law firm Sandak Hennessey & Greco, LLP, represented the city of Stamford as Corporation Counsel, was Assistant Corporation Counsel for the City of Norwalk and was an associate with the law firms of Cohen & Wolf, PC and Bai, Pollock & Dunnigan, both of Bridgeport.

Judge Sommer was an adjunct professor of business law and ethics at both the College of New Rochelle and the University of Connecticut. She was the president of the Fairfield County Bar Association from 2005-2006 and also served as the co-chair for the Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee and the Community Service Committee of the Connecticut Bar Association. She is a member of the American Bar Association, the Connecticut Bar Association and the National Association of Women Judges.  Judge Sommer is a past member of the Board of Governors for the Connecticut Trial Lawyers Association.

In 2014, Judge Sommer traveled to Tanzania, for the “Justice for All” conference, sponsored by the National Association of Women Judges. The conference was dedicated to discussing the special problems faced by women in developing countries and exchanging ideas with female judges from around the world about social, economic and cultural barriers to accessing justice.

Judge Sommer has served on a number of Judicial Branch committees including the Rules Committee, the Public Service and Trust Commission, the Committee on Self-represented Parties and the Subcommittee on Training Materials. She was also a member of the Statewide Grievance Committee.  She was also appointed as an Attorney Trial Referee and Special Master of the U.S. District Court, District of Connecticut.

Judge Sommer is a graduate of the College of New Rochelle where she received a B.A. cum laude in political science in 1971 and her Juris Doctor from the University School of Notre Dame, School of Law in 1975. She studied at the Notre Dame London Centre for Legal Studies from 1973 to 1974. Judge Sommer was admitted to Connecticut Bar, the U.S. District Court, the District of Connecticut and the U.S. Court of Appeals, 2nd Circuit.

Honorable Cynthia K. Swienton

The Honorable Cynthia K. Swienton is currently assigned to the New Britain Judicial District, where she presides over family, civil and criminal cases.  She previously served as the presiding judge for family matters for the New London Judicial District and as presiding judge for juvenile matters for the Hartford, Middletown and Torrington Judicial Districts.  She also served as the Administrative Assistant Judge for the Windham Judicial District.

Judge Swienton was appointed as a Superior Court judge by Governor John G. Rowland in May of 1997.  Immediately prior to becoming a judge, she was a sole practitioner, a hearing officer with the Department of Motor Vehicles, and an Assistant Clerk with the State of Connecticut’s House of Representatives.  Judge Swienton was also a partner with the law firm of Wetstone, Swienton & D’Ambrosio and an associate with Reiner and Reiner, both of Farmington.

Judge Swienton is a member of the Connecticut Bar Association and the Hartford County Bar Association.Judge Swienton is a graduate of Western New England College, where she received a B.A. magna cum laude in government in 1978 and agraduate of Western New England College School of Law, where she received her Juris Doctor in 1981.