Bruce Louden will receive the Edward F. Hennessey Professionalism Award at the CBA’s annual awards ceremony, Celebrate with the Stars, on Thursday, March 12.
Attorney Louden is a partner at Louden Katz McGrath & Bryan LLC, where he focuses his practice on matrimonial law and mediation. Over the course of a distinguished six-decade legal career, he has helped shape family law practice in Connecticut and beyond, earning statewide and national recognition for his impact on the profession.
After earning his B.A. from the University of Florida and receiving his J.D. from the University of Florida College of Law, Attorney Louden began his legal career at Holland & Knight in Florida, becoming a partner at the firm in 1966. He later relocated to Connecticut, where he practiced at Ribicoff & Kotkin, serving as managing partner and litigating major antitrust and malpractice matters. In 1981, Attorney Louden co-founded the first law firm in Connecticut devoted exclusively to matrimonial law, which became known for its non-adversarial approach. He later continued his family law and mediation practice through several partnerships before forming his current firm, Louden Katz McGrath & Bryan LLC.
Attorney Louden has served in key professional leadership roles for more than five decades. He is a past president of the Connecticut chapter of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, the founding chair of the Connecticut Bar Association’s Professional Discipline Committee, and a longtime member of the Connecticut Council for Non-Adversarial Divorce. His national service includes representing multiple states and territories on the ABA Standing Committee on Professional Discipline and serving on the National Board of Directors of the Lawyers Alliance for Nuclear Arms Control. He is also a founding co-leader of “Lawyer Lifers,” a statewide organization of senior attorneys who remain actively engaged in practice.
An accomplished writer and educator, Attorney Louden has published in the Connecticut Family Law Journal and ABA Family Advocate and has served as an expert witness in numerous matrimonial and professional-discipline matters. He has taught at the University of Connecticut School of Law and has been a frequent speaker at national and statewide continuing legal education programs, including presentations for the ABA, the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, and the Connecticut Bar Association.
The Edward F. Hennessey Professionalism Award recognizes and honors a member of the bar whose career has manifested a dedication to the highest ideals and standards of the legal profession.
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