Erick Russell Receives 2019 Fairfield County "40 Under 40," Crawford Bar "Rising Star" Awards
BRIDGEPORT, CT: Erick A. Russell, an attorney in the Government Finance practice at Pullman & Comley, is the recipient of two recent awards: the Fairfield County Business Journal “40 under 40” award and the George W. Crawford Black Bar Association Rising Star award.
The Fairfield County Business Journal presents the “40 Under 40” award to individuals under 40 who have demonstrated leadership roles and are part of Fairfield County’s business growth. Erick and the other recipients of the award were honored at an awards ceremony on June 11 at LaKota Oaks in Norwalk.
On May 8, 2019, Erick received The George W. Crawford Black Bar Association’s Inaugural Rising Star Award at the organization’s annual dinner at the Hartford Marriott Downtown. Erick is a former member of the Crawford Bar Association’s Board of Directors.
“Erick is well deserving of these awards because of the impact he has made, and will continue to make, on the Connecticut legal, governmental, business and civic community,” said John Stafstrom Jr., chair of the Government Finance Department at Pullman & Comley. “He has shown, and continues to show, a passion for civic and community involvement and intends to use his skills to make the Connecticut community a better place.”
At Pullman & Comley, Erick represents state and municipal governments in the issuance of tax-exempt and taxable bonds and other debt obligations. In addition, he represents issuers of 501(c)(3) bonds, qualified private activity bonds, revenue bonds and conduit borrowings.
Earlier in his career, Erick represented low-income taxpayers before the Internal Revenue Service and the Connecticut Department of Revenue Services as part of the University of Connecticut School of Law's Low-Income Tax Clinic. He also interned for the General Counsel to Governor Dannel P. Malloy prior to joining the firm as a summer associate in 2011, and served as a legal intern for the Connecticut Legal Rights Project in 2010. He received his B.S., magna cum laude, from The University of New Haven in 2009 and his J.D. from University of Connecticut School of Law, J.D., 2012, where he also was awarded a University of Connecticut School of Law Certificate in Taxation.
Erick is immediate past chair of the LGBT section of the Connecticut Bar Association, and since 2014 has served as a co-chair of the annual Lambda Legal “Connecticut Cares” event which has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to support Lambda’s work in assuring equality for LGBTQ persons across the country. He is a member of the Lawyers Collaborative for Diversity and of the board of directors of Discovering Amistad, a nonprofit educational institution.
Erick serves as vice chair of the Connecticut Democratic Party and is a member of the New Haven Democratic Town Committee. He received the Connecticut Law Tribune's "New Leaders in the Law" award in 2016 and has been named to the Super Lawyers "Connecticut Rising Stars" in the area of government finance since 2015.
About Pullman & Comley:
Pullman & Comley celebrates its 100th anniversary in 2019 and is one of Connecticut’s largest firms, providing a wide range of legal services to clients in the New England region, as well as throughout the United States and internationally. Pullman & Comley’s major practice areas include business organizations and finance; environmental and land use; government finance; health care; labor, employment law and employee benefits; litigation and alternative dispute resolution; family law; property tax and valuation; real estate; regulatory, energy and telecommunications; and trusts and estates. The firm has offices in Bridgeport, Hartford, Stamford, Waterbury and Westport Connecticut; Springfield, Massachusetts; and White Plains, New York. The firm is an active member of the Law Firm Alliance, an international affiliation of law firms.