Bethany Native Named New U.S. District Court Magistrate

Bethany Native Robert Richardson has been named as a new magistrate judge for the U.S. District Court in Connecticut.

Richardson is currently a partner at the Garrison, Levin-Epstein, Richardson, Fitzgerald & Pirrotti law firm.

He will be sworn in on Jan. 12

More info:

He is a 1984 graduate of Amity High School. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the Pennsylvania State University in 1988. Mr. Richardson received a Juris Doctor degree from the Ohio State University College of Law in 1991.

He was a Managing Editor of the Ohio State Law Journal, a recipient of the Judge Joseph M. Haerter Award for trial practice, and a recipient of the American Jurisprudence Award. He also interned for the Honorable Herbert R. Brown of the Supreme Court of Ohio. Mr. Richardson joined the law firm then known as Garrison, Silbert & Arterton, P.C., in 1991. Since that time, he has represented individuals and employees in employment and civil rights matters, in both state and federal courts, as well as in arbitrations.

He is a member of the American College of Trial Lawyers and has been listed in the Best Lawyers in America for employment law since 2006. He recently served as co-chair of the Connecticut Bar Association’s Federal Judiciary Committee, and he previously served on the District Court’s Federal Grievance Committee (1996-2001) and on the Connecticut Bar Association’s Committee on Professional Ethics (2002-2011). In addition, he recently served as Vice President of the National Employment Lawyers’ Association and as a member of the Editorial Board for the Connecticut Law Tribune.

The District Judges appointed the Magistrate Judge Selection Committee that screened applications for the vacancy created by Judge Smith’s retirement. Its Chair was William M. Bloss of Koskoff, Koskoff & Bieder in Bridgeport. Other members of the Selection Committee were: John R. Flores of Boston Mutual Life Insurance Company in Canton, Massachusetts; Ross H. Garber of Shipman & Goodwin in Hartford; Carlton Highsmith of CLH Holdings, Inc. of New Haven; Margaret Hiller of the Bridgeport Public Education Fund in Bridgeport; Moy N. Ogilvie of McCarter & English in Hartford; Krishna R. Patel of Justice Initiatives at Grace Farms in New Canaan; David N. Rosen of David Rosen & Associates, P.C. in New Haven; and Paul F. Thomas, formerly of the Office of the Federal Defender in New Haven.