Pullman & Comley Attorney Thomas F. Maxwell Honored By The Connecticut Defense Lawyers Association
BRIDGEPORT, Connecticut: The Connecticut Defense Lawyers Association (CDLA) honored Pullman & Comley attorney Thomas F. Maxwell as this year’s recipient of the President’s Award for Excellence at the CDLA's annual meeting held on June 8. Each year, the award is presented to a civil defense attorney who has provided outstanding and distinguished service and contributions to the defense bar, excellence in practice, and the development and furtherance of the fair administration of justice and application of law to society.
Mr. Maxwell, who last year celebrated his 50th year practicing law, has broad experience representing individuals and corporations in numerous civil and criminal trials, investigations and proceedings. His primary areas of civil representation are product liability and toxic tort/asbestos defense; insurance law, including defense and casualty litigation, insurance fraud, and ERISA, life, health and disability litigation; personal injury; government liability; and trusts and estates litigation. He also represents clients in criminal matters, including white collar crime in state and federal courts.
Earlier in his career, Mr. Maxwell served in the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Connecticut as an Assistant U.S. Attorney. He worked in several Bridgeport area law firms and then served the City of Bridgeport for a term as Police Commissioner. Later, he represented the Bridgeport Police Department and numerous other cities and towns in Fairfield County as special trial counsel in complex cases. He served on the Grievance Panel for the Stamford/Norwalk Judicial District and in 2007 was appointed by the Judges of the Superior Court, State of Connecticut, to serve as an attorney member of the Statewide Grievance Committee and served in that role for six years.
In addition to earning a praiseworthy reputation as a defense attorney, Mr. Maxwell has served in leadership roles of numerous professional organizations throughout his career. He is a current member of the Board of Directors and the past president of the Greater Bridgeport Bar Association, and serves on the Executive Committee of the Litigation Section of the Connecticut Bar Association. He is an active member of the Connecticut Defense Lawyers Association, the Connecticut Trial Lawyers Association, and is also a member of several committees of the Defense Research Institute.
For the past 11 years, Mr. Maxwell has been selected to the Connecticut Super Lawyers list in the areas of civil litigation, criminal defense and insurance coverage. He received his B.A. from the University of Notre Dame, and his J.D. from the University of Alabama School of Law.
Presenting the award to Mr. Maxwell was Attorney Robert G. Oliver, a friend to Mr. Maxwell for more than 50 years. “Your service and contributions to the Bar and to our State and its communities; your professional excellence and experience; your dedication to the fair administration of justice; your good humor, your common sense, your integrity and your modesty make you this year’s recipient of the Connecticut Defense Lawyers Association President’s Award for Excellence.”
In attendance from Pullman and Comley were Judge Robert L. Holzberg (retired), Judge Michael E. Riley (retired) and Litigation Department Chair, Timothy G. Ronan who expressed how gratifying it was to see Mr. Maxwell’s contributions to the practice of law recognized with this prestigious award from the CDLA.
“I am greatly humbled and honored to receive this award,” said Mr. Maxwell. “It is kind of like getting a hole in one when you are playing a round of golf with your friends.”
About Pullman & Comley:
With more than 95 attorneys, Pullman & Comley, LLC is one of Connecticut’s largest firms and provides a wide range of legal services to clients in the New England region, as well as throughout the United States and internationally. The firm’s major practice areas include business organizations and finance; environmental and land use; government finance; health care; labor, employment law and employee benefits; litigation; property valuation; real estate; regulatory, energy and telecommunications; and trusts and estates. The firm has offices in Bridgeport, Hartford, Stamford, Waterbury and White Plains. The firm is an active member of the Law Firm Alliance, an international affiliation of law firms. For more information, please visit: www.pullcom.com.
About The Connecticut Defense Lawyers Association:
The Connecticut Defense Lawyers Association ("CDLA") is a voluntary, not-for-profit, statewide organization of civil defense attorneys that has been in operation since 1991. The mission of the CDLA is to assist members in becoming better civil defense lawyers. The CDLA promotes legal education, professional development, collegiality and networking for the civil defense bar. It also serves as the voice of the civil defense bar to advance the fair administration of justice in civil litigation. For more information, please visit: http://ctdefenselawyers.org/about.php