Groton Resident Nominated To Fill CT Superior Court Vacancy

HARTFORD, CT – Governor Dannel P. Malloy announced Friday that he is nominating fourteen state residents to fill vacancies for judgeships on the Connecticut Superior Court.

These announcements come in addition to the eleven nominations for the court that the Governor made on Tuesday of last week, and the five he announced last Thursday, according to a release.

While these nominations represent only a fraction of the 45 vacancies currently in the Superior Court, these 30 nominees will provide critical judicial capacity in performing the essential duties of the court system. The Governor intends to leave a total of 21 positions vacant by the end of his term.

Currently, the bipartisan budget assumes a vacancy of only 12 positions, which means that this plan of action would realize additional, unanticipated budgetary savings by leaving nine funded positions vacant.

“Selecting nominees to fill vacancies in our court system is one of the most important duties that a governor performs – they must possess the qualities that build a stronger, fairer Connecticut for everyone in the long-run,” Malloy said in a release. “I believe that each of these women and men will bring to the bench the diverse qualities that mirror the people of our state while also meeting the high principles and integrity that our citizens deserve.”

Malloy’s nominations for the Superior Court included Michael Edward Auger of Groton.

Auger is a senior partner and trial lawyer at Suisman Shapiro in New London, where he has worked since 1988, specializing in personal injury cases, including wrongful death claims, automobile collisions, slip and falls, medical malpractice, nursing home negligence, and product liability.

He has also handled numerous complex commercial tax appeals, insurance coverage disputes, including bad faith claims and commercial litigation.

Auger is also a retired Captain in the Judge Advocate General Corps of the United States Naval Reserve. He served on active duty from 1984 to 1988 and in the reserves from 1988 to 2014. He now volunteers to provide legal assistance to active duty military members, retired members, and their dependents at the Naval Submarine Base New London.

He also currently serves as a Connecticut Superior Court Attorney Trial Referee, and is a judge of the Gaming Disputes Court for the Mohegan Tribal Court. He is a graduate of Georgetown University, where he received a Bachelor of Arts in Government, and the State University of New York at Buffalo Law School, where he received his Juris Doctor degree.

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