Frank H. Finch, Jr., president of the CBA during the 1998-1999 bar year, passed away on July 23.
Originally born in Minnesota and raised in Urbana, IL, Frank H. Finch, Jr. earned his BA from Harvard College in 1953 and his law degree from Harvard Law School in 1959. That same year, he was admitted to practice in the State of Connecticut and joined the law firm of Howd & Lavieri LLP in Winsted. He was later admitted to practice before the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut and the United States Supreme Court. From 1961-1978, he served as an assistant prosecuting attorney in Connecticut state courts on a part-time basis. Eventually, he gained partnership at the firm currently known as Howd Lavieri and Finch LLP. Attorney Finch represented a wide variety of clients with a special focus on corporate and business law cases. In total, his active tenure at Howd Lavieri and Finch LLP spanned seven decades.
Attorney Finch became active in the CBA in 1959. He represented the CBA in the American Bar Association’s House of Delegates for many years prior to serving as our association’s president. In addition to his positions with the CBA, he also served as president of the Litchfield County Bar Association and was a James W. Cooper Fellow of the Connecticut Bar Foundation. In 1987, he became a Connecticut trial referee. He also served as chairman of the Litchfield County Standing Committee on Recommendation for Admission to the Bar. In 2000, Attorney Finch was appointed to the chief justice’s Civil Commission, and in 2001, he was appointed to the Federal Court Grievance Committee. Through his career and many professional achievements, Attorney Finch proved himself to be a successful and conscientious leader of the Connecticut legal community.
The full obituary for Attorney Finch has been published by the Cook Funeral Home in Torrington. As his family has recommended, please direct any memorial contributions made in Attorney Finch’s memory, either to the Torrington-Winsted Rotary Fund at Northwest Community Foundation, PO Box 1144, Torrington, CT 06790, or to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, PO Box 5014, Hagerstown, MD 21741-5014. In the coming weeks, a memorial celebration of his life will be held for family and friends.