Carl M. Porto will receive the John Eldred Shields Distinguished Professional Service Award at the CBA’s annual awards ceremony, Celebrate with the Stars, on Thursday, March 12.
Attorney Porto is the former managing principal of Parrett Porto, a firm with offices in Hamden, Bridgeport, and Guilford. Attorney Porto earned his B.A. from Boston University in 1964 and his J.D. from the University of Connecticut School of Law in 1967. Over the course of his distinguished legal career, Attorney Porto has held influential leadership roles within both the legal profession and the greater Connecticut community.
In addition to having served as a past president of the New Haven County Bar Association, Attorney Porto served as chair of the Connecticut Bar Association’s (CBA) Unauthorized Practice of Law (UPL) Committee for more than two decades. Under his leadership, the UPL Committee drafted the definition of the practice of law in Connecticut, which was approved and adopted by the Rules Committee of the Superior Court. Working with Connecticut’s Chief Disciplinary Counsel, Attorney Porto led the successful effort to elevate the unauthorized practice of law in Connecticut from a minor misdemeanor to a felony.
Within the CBA, Attorney Porto has also served as a member of the House of Delegates and on numerous committees and task forces, including those focused on automobile reparations, professional responsibility, multidistrict and multidisciplinary practice, and in-house counsel issues. He has also served as a member of the Connecticut Judicial Review Council and as co-chair of the U.S. District Court Special Masters’ Program and for his efforts, was recognized by the New Haven County Bar Association as one of the Legends of the Bar.
Throughout his career, Attorney Porto has also contributed extensively to community institutions across the region. He was the longest serving member on Hamden Hall Country Day School’s Board of Trustees and was the third recipient since the school’s founding in 1912 to be awarded the Hamden Hall Medal of Distinction. He has served on the boards of The Bank of New Haven, Citizens Bank of Connecticut and Rhode Island, and Start Community Bank. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of Bankwell Financial Group, Inc., where he also chairs the Governance Committee and sits on the Compensation Committee. His community leadership includes service as president of the New Haven Country Club and the Quinnipiac Club of New Haven. In addition to his long-standing membership in the Connecticut Bar Association and the New Haven County Bar Association, he is a James W. Cooper Fellow of the Connecticut Bar Foundation. He is also an Associate Fellow of Grace Hopper College at Yale University.
Attorney Porto previously served as Hamden’s Town Attorney and was the recipient of the Hamden Chamber of Commerce’s Notable Citizen Award and the Hamden Education Foundation Distinguished Alumni Award. He also served on Hamden’s Civil Service Commission, Code of Ethics Committee, and CDAP Municipal Government Committee. An avid golfer, Attorney Porto served on the Board of Directors and the executive committee of the First Tee of Connecticut. His community service has included roles on the boards of the former St Raphael’s Hospital Foundation, the Shubert Performing Arts Center, and the New Haven Symphony Orchestra.
The John Eldred Shields Distinguished Professional Service Award recognizes CBA members who have performed outstanding service through or on behalf of the CBA for the benefit of the legal community and the community at large.
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