1. CBA Holds
Rule of Law
Conference By Alysha M. Adamo
Photos by Diane Sabolewski
“Stripped of all Technicalities, this [the rule of law] means that government
in all its actions is bound by rules fixed and announced before-hand—rules
which make it possible to foresee with fair certainty how the authority will use
its coercive powers in given circumstances and to plan one’s individual affairs
on the basis of this knowledge”
—Friedrich August Von Hayek, British Economist
Reprinted by permission of Connecticut Lawyer.
As one of his main ob- to encourage debate on both the good and the bad of the rule
jectives during his presi- of law.
dency, Francis J. Brady
Attorney Wesley W. Horton of Horton Shields & Knox PC
spearheaded the Rule of
acted as moderator for the first panel discussion. The panel-
Law Conference on June
ists included Drew S. Days, III, an Alfred M. Rankin Pro-
9 at Trinity College in
fessor of Law at Yale Law School; Ian T. Douglas, Bishop
Hartford. The goal of this
of the Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut; Neal J. Keating,
conference was to provide
chairman, president, and CEO of Kaman Corporation; the
a forum for distinguished
Honorable Chase T. Rogers, Chief Justice of the Connecticut
leaders in various indus-
Supreme Court; and Phillip R. Sherrington, president and
tries, including medicine,
CEO of People’s United Bank.
business, religion, and, of
course, law, to both dis- Attorney Horton described the purpose of the first panel as a
The Honorable Jon O. Newman, cuss and commit to work way to open “a direct dialogue between non-lawyer leaders
senior judge for the U.S. Court of
toward a broader appre- and those who rule.” This panel focused on a general discus-
Appeals for the Second Circuit,
providing opening remarks . ciation of the rule of law. sion of the rule of law, with specific points made such as that
there are multiple understandings of the concept in different
The day began with welcome remarks by then-CBA Presi- parts of the world and that ethics cannot be legislated. A
dent Francis J. Brady. He then introduced keynote speaker, theme that held strong throughout this panel discussion and
the Honorable Jon O. Newman, senior judge for the U.S. showed the open-mindedness of all parties was, “If the rule
Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Judge Newman of law can be made better, let’s break away from battle lines
cited the rule of law as “the line between civilization and and consider new ideas to make the change.”
anarchy” but admitted that the system is flawed and can be
The second panel was moderated by the Honorable Mark
made better. He stated that two different key points exist
R. Kravitz, judge for the U.S. District Court of Connecticut.
when applying the rule of law: determine what happened
The panelists included Dr. Robert J. Alpern, dean of the Yale
and then apply the law—make a legal decision. He went on
32 Connecticut Lawyer July 2010 Visit www.ctbar.org

2. CBA Immediate Past
School of Medicine; Dr. Susan Froshauser, founder President Francis J.
and chief scientific officer of Rib-X Pharmaceuti- Brady.
cals; Attorney Barbara Hennessy, regional and gen-
eral counsel of Aetna Health, Inc.; Elliot Joseph,
president and CEO of Hartford Hospital and Hart-
ford Healthcare; Attorney Marla S. Persky, senior
vice president and general counsel of Boehringer
Ingelheim Corporation; and Attorney Maureen
Weaver of Wiggin and Dana LLP.
This panel discussed the challenges facing health-
care, a major cause of concern in today’s society.
Attorney Persky offered that the rule of law and Panelist Ian T. Doug-
las, Bishop of the
regulations in our current system impedes innova- Episcopal Diocese
tion because it is now so expensive to get something of Connecticut, and
through the FDA approval process. She pointed out panelist Neal J.
that it is no longer cost-effective for a lot of people Keating, chairman,
president, and CEO
and companies to go through the process. of Kaman Corpora-
After the panel discussions, the attendees were split tion.
into eight, hour-long breakout discussion sessions.
Each session was headed by a different judge or
justice—Justice McLachlan, Justice Norcott, Jus-
tice Eveleigh, Judge Bishop, Justice Katz, Justice
Schaller, Chief Judge DiPentima, and Justice Za-
rella. Each group received a list of suggested dis- CBA Past President
cussion topics that branched from topics brought Bill Prout and Jus-
up during the panel discussions, and many groups tice C. Ian McLach-
continued the conversations that were begun during lan, Connecticut
Supreme Court, in a
the panels. breakout discussion
session.
The day concluded with closing remarks from
James F. Jones, Jr., president of Trinity College.
Chief Justice Chase T. Rogers then made final re-
marks of the day, reminding everyone that despite
any discontent, “We must have faith in our courts
and the rule of law.”
The CBA Rule of Law Conference Committee was
co-chaired by Steven M. Greenspan of Day Pitney Panelist Marla
LLP in Hartford and Wesley W. Horton of Horton S. Persky, senior
Shields & Knox PC of Hartford. Members of the vice president and
committee were Francis J. Brady of Murtha Cul- general counsel of
Boehringer Ingel-
lina LLP in Hartford; D. Larkin Chenault, execu- heim Corporation;
tive director of the Connecticut Bar Association; Moderator Judge
Daniel P. Elliott of Murtha Cullina LLP in Hartford; Mark R. Kravitz,
Kimberly A. Knox of Horton Shields & Knox PC in U.S. District Court
of Connecticut; and
Hartford; Laurie Nivison, marketing specialist for panelist Dr. Susan
the Connecticut Bar Association; and Holly Spina, Froshauer, founder
director of membership and development for the and chief scien-
Connecticut Bar Association. CL tific officer at Rib-X
Pharmaceuticals.
Alysha M. Adamo is the associate editor of the
Connecticut Lawyer.
Connecticut Lawyer July 2010 33