Monthly Archives: September 2014

Collins of Old Lyme Named a ‘Best Lawyer in America’

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Attorney John A. Collins III

Attorney John A. Collins III

John A. Collins, III, of Old Lyme has again been selected by his peers for inclusion in the 21st Edition of The Best Lawyers in America® 2015. Collins is an attorney specializing in the field of Personal Injury Litigation at Suisman Shapiro Attorneys at Law in New London.  Two of Collins’s fellow attorneys at Suisman Shapiro, Matthew E. Auger and Matthew Shafner, were also named on the Best Lawyers listing.

Auger specializes in the field of Medical Malpractice Law and Shafner in Workers Compensation Law.  Shafner was also named “Lawyer of the Year” for 2014, and is one of a distinguished group of attorneys who have been included in Best Lawyers for twenty years or longer. “Lawyer of the Year” awards are presented annually to a single outstanding lawyer in each practice area and designated metropolitan area.

Since it was first published in 1983, Best Lawyers® has become universally regarded as the definitive guide to legal excellence. Best Lawyers is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey.  Over 52,000 leading attorneys cast more than 5.5 million votes on the legal abilities of other lawyers in their practice areas. Lawyers are not required or allowed to pay a fee to be listed; therefore inclusion in Best Lawyers is considered a singular honor. Corporate Counsel magazine has called Best Lawyers “the most respected referral list of attorneys in practice.”

“Best Lawyers honors are particularly humbling because recipients are chosen by our peers,” said John Collins, III, Managing Director.  “We are particularly proud of Attorney Matthew Shafner for receiving the coveted ‘Lawyer of the Year’ award.”

Collins has successfully obtained verdicts or public settlements up to $10 million on behalf of injured victims over a 28 year law practice.  He currently serves as the Managing Partner of Suisman Shapiro.  The Connecticut Bar Foundation honored Attorney John A. Collins, III, in 2005 with his selection as a Life Fellow.  “Selection as a Fellow requires demonstrated superior legal ability and devotion to the welfare of the community, state and nation, as well as to the advancement of the legal foundation”.  Source: Connecticut Bar Foundation.

Auger handles serious personal injury cases, including wrongful death claims, automobile collisions, slip and falls, medical malpractice, nursing home negligence and product liability.  Mr. Auger is a Board Certified Civil Trial Advocate with the National Board of Trial Advocacy.  He is also a Captain in the Judge Advocate General Corps of the United States Naval Reserve.

Shafner is a nationally recognized lawyer in the fields of asbestos injury, personal injury, maritime injury and workers compensation. He was admitted to practice in Connecticut, the Federal Courts of Appeals in the 1st and 2nd Circuits and the U.S. Supreme Court.  His reported decisions have been published by the Appellate Court, Supreme Court, and the U.S. Court of Appeals in the 1st and 2nd Circuits.  Attorney Shafner is a member of the Million Dollar Advocate Forum.  He is only the ninth person ever to receive the Connecticut Trial Lawyers Association’s lifetime achievement award since the association formed in 1954.

Suisman Shapiro Attorneys at Law is located at 2 Union Plaza, P.O. Box 1591, New London CT 06320. For further information, call (860) 442-4416 or visit www.suismanshapiro.com

Donations Needed This Week For King’s Rummage Sale to be Held at Old Lyme Church, Sept. 27-28

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Christ The King's Rummage Sale is always a great place to look for bargains.

Christ The King’s Rummage Sale is always a great place to look for bargains.

Summer’s over. The kids are back in school. It’s a great time to clean out the house and get it ready for autumn.  But what to do with all the toys, books, dishes, tennis racquets, bicycles, Christmas decorations, furniture, etc., that you don’t need anymore?

Donate them to the King’s Rummage Sale at Christ the King Church’s Harvest Fun Day!  Donations are being accepted now through Sept. 19 (Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 12 noon) at Christ the King Church, 1 McCurdy Rd., Old Lyme (parish hall entrance). All donated items should be in good condition and saleable. No clothes, please.

Call the parish office (860-434-1669) if you need help moving a large item.

Harvest Fun Day takes place at Christ the King Church on Saturday, Sept. 27, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and features the King’s Rummage Sale, a basket raffle, a bake sale, kids games and crafts, great food, and an autumn plant sale.

The Rummage Sale, bake sale, and plant sale will continue Sunday morning (Sept. 28) from 9 a.m. to noon (while supplies last).

Visit www.christthekingchurch.net for directions.

For more information, call 860-434-1669.

State House Candidates Stone, Carney Debate Tonight in Old Lyme, 7pm; Also, State Senate Candidates Linares, Bjornberg at 8pm

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Challenger Emily Bjornberg (D)

Challenger Emily Bjornberg (D)

State Senator Art Linares

State Senator Art Linares (R)

Republic State Senators Art Linares and Democratic challenger Emily Bjornberg have agreed to at least three public debates for their election contest in the 12-town 33rd Senate district, though Bjornberg is calling for at least one more face-off to be held in one of the northern towns of the district.

In a separate campaign development, Colin Bennett of Westbrook has been endorsed the receive the Green Party line on the Nov. 4 ballot. Bennett has run for the seat several times as the Green Party nominee in past elections where former Democratic State Sen. Eileen Daily of Westbrook faced Republican challengers.

The Green Party has secured a ballot line in the district with past campaigns by Bennett, and particularly with the 2012 contest after Daily’s retirement where Melissa Schlag of Haddam won nearly ten percent of the vote as the Green Party candidate in the contest with Linares and Democratic nominee Jim Crawford of Westbrook. Schlag was elected last year as the Democratic first selectwoman of Haddam, and is supporting Bjornberg in this year’s election.

Bennett is not believed to be waging an active campaign for the Nov. 4 vote, but he has been included in at least one of the Linares-Bjornberg debates. Bennett has been invited to participate in a Sept. 23 debate at Valley Regional High School in Deep River that is sponsored by the Essex Library. The debate begins at 7 p.m. in the school auditorium, with written questions from the audience that will be screened by the debate moderator, Essex Librarian Richard Conroy.

Devin Carney (R)

Devin Carney (R)

Mary Stone (D)

Mary Stone (D)

The first campaign face off between the one-term Republican incumbent and Bjornberg, of Lyme, will be held Tuesday, Sept. 16, at the Lyme-Old Lyme Middle School in Old Lyme. The session, sponsored by the New London Day and the Eastern Chamber of Commerce, begins at 8 p.m.  The evening starts at 7 p.m. with a debate between the candidates for the 23rd House seat currently held by Marilyn Giuliano.  Democrat Mary Stone of Old Lyme will face off against Republican Devin Carney of Old Saybrook.  The 23rd seat covers Lyme, Old Lyme, Old Saybrook and the southern section (south of I 95) of Westbrook.

Old Lyme is part of the 20th Senate District, but Lyme, its northern neighbor, is in the 33rd District. The district also includes the towns of Chester, Clinton, Colchester, Deep River, East Haddam, East Hampton, Essex, Haddam, Portland, Westbrook, and parts of Old Saybrook.

The candidates will also appear at a debate sponsored by the Westbrook Council of Beaches in early October, and at a forum, not a debate, sponsored by the Chester-Deep River-Essex chapter of the Middlesex Chamber of Commerce on the morning of Oct. 3 at the Chester Meeting House.

Bjornberg this week urged Linares to agree to hold one additional public debate in one of the five northern towns of the district, Colchester, East Haddam, East Hampton, Haddam, or Portland. Bjornberg said she would keep her schedule open for a northern town debate

Faculty Exhibition on View at Lyme Academy College

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'Rest Stop' by Nancy Peel Gladwell is one of the signature paintings of the Studio Faculty Exhibition opening Friday.

‘Rest Stop’ by Nancy Peel Gladwell is one of the signature paintings of the Studio Faculty Exhibition opening Friday.

An exhibition of artwork by studio faculty at Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts of the University of New Haven opens at the College’s Chauncey Stillman Gallery, Friday, Sept. 12.

'The Fall' by Illusration Instructor Jon Sideriadis.

‘The Fall’ by Illusration Instructor Jon Sideriadis.

Thirteen members of the College’s studio faculty are exhibiting in a variety of media in this exhibition.

"Work in Progress" by Chair of Painting Susan Stephenson.

“Work in Progress” by Chair of Painting Susan Stephenson.

The chairs of the Painting, Drawing and Sculpture Departments—respectively Susan Stephenson, Randy Melick and Brian Booth Craig—will all be exhibiting along with their colleagues in those departments.

The Illustration Department, which now comprises three acclaimed professional illustrators, will also have examples of their work on display. Two of the Illustration faculty – Dale Stephanos and John Sideriadis—are new to the College this academic year. Chairs and faculty members from all departments will be present at the opening reception to discuss their works.

Campus Dean Todd Jokl comments, “The faculty exhibition is a wonderful opportunity that highlights the exceptional artist educators who make this institution such an excellent teaching facility. Each member of the faculty is an outstanding and highly respected working artist in her or his own right.  This exhibition will showcase their exceptional talents.”

The Studio Faculty Exhibition 2014 runs from Friday, Sept. 12, through Saturday, Jan. 10, 2015 in the Chauncey Stillman Gallery. Admission is free and the gallery is open to the public Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

For more information about the exhibition or the College, call Director of Marketing and Public Relations, Olwen Logan, at 860.434.3571, ext. 135, or visit www.lymeacademy.edu.

Republican Senator Art Linares and Democratic Challenger Emily Bjornberg Schedule Debate for 33rd District Contest

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AREAWIDE— Republic State Senators Art Linares and Democratic challenger Emily Bjornberg have agreed to at least three public debates for their election contest in the 12-town 33rd Senate district, though Bjornberg is calling for at least one more face-off to be held in one of the northern towns of the district.

In a separate campaign development, Colin Bennett of Westbrook has been endorsed the receive the Green Party line on the Nov. 4 ballot. Bennett has run for the seat several times as the Green Party nominee in past elections where former Democratic State Sen. Eileen Daily of Westbrook faced Republican challengers.

The Green Party has secured a ballot line in the district with past campaigns by Bennett, and particularly with the 2012 contest after Daily’s retirement where Melissa Schlag of Haddam won nearly ten percent of the vote as the Green Party candidate in the contest with Linares and Democratic nominee Jim Crawford of Westbrook. Schlag was elected last year as the Democratic first selectwoman of Haddam, and is supporting Bjornberg in this year’s election.

Bennett is not believed to be waging an active campaign for the Nov. 4 vote, but he has been included in at least one of the Linares-Bjornberg debates. Bennett has been invited to participate in a Sept. 23 debate at Valley Regional High School in Deep River that is sponsored by the Essex Library. The debate begins at 7 p.m. in the school auditorium, with written questions from the audience that will be screened by the debate moderator, Essex Librarian Richard Conroy.

The first campaign face off between the one-term Republican incumbent and Bjornberg, of Lyme, will be held Tuesday Sept. 16 at the Lyme-Old Lyme Middle School in Old Lyme. The session, sponsored by the New London Day, begins at 8 p.m.
Old Lyme is part of the 20th Senate District, but Lyme, its northern neighbor, is in the 33rd District. The district also includes the towns of Chester, Clinton, Colchester, Deep River, East Haddam, East Hampton, Essex, Haddam, Portland, Westbrook, and parts of Old Saybrook.

The candidates will also appear at a debate sponsored by the Westbrook Council of Beaches in early October, and at a forum, not a debate, sponsored by the Chester-Deep River-Essex chapter of the Middlesex Chamber of Commerce on the morning of Oct. 3 at the Chester Meeting House.

Bjornberg this week urged Linares to agree to hold one additional public debate in one of the five northern towns of the district, Colchester, East Haddam, East Hampton, Haddam, or Portland. Bjornberg said she would keep her schedule open for a northern town debate.