Rocky Hill Mayor Nominated for Judgeship

HARTFORD, CT – Governor Dannel P. Malloy today announced that he is nominating 14 state residents to fill vacancies for judgeships on the Connecticut Superior Court, including Rocky Hill Mayor Claudia Baio.

The announcements come in addition to the eleven nominations for the court that the Governor made on Tuesday of last week, and the five he announced last Thursday.

The nominations represent only a fraction of the 45 vacancies currently in the Superior Court, but Malloy said the 30 nominees will provide "critical judicial capacity in performing the essential duties of the court system."

Malloy said he intends to leave a total of 21 positions vacant by the end of his term. Currently, the bipartisan budget assumes a vacancy of only 12 positions, which means that this plan of action would "realize additional, unanticipated budgetary savings" by leaving nine funded positions vacant.

“Selecting nominees to fill vacancies in our court system is one of the most important duties that a governor performs. They must possess the qualities that build a stronger, fairer Connecticut for everyone in the long-run,” Governor Malloy said. “I believe that each of these women and men will bring to the bench the diverse qualities that mirror the people of our state while also meeting the high principles and integrity that our citizens deserve.”

Baio is a partner at the law firm of Howard, Kohn, Sprague & Fitzgerald, LLP in Hartford, where she has worked since 2014.

From 2000 to 2014 she operated her own practice – the Law Offices of Baio and Associates – which was merged into her current firm. Currently, she focuses her practice on litigation, including defense of a variety of claims in civil litigation as well as insurance defense, workers compensation defense, and insurance coverage policy/contract analysis.

From 1999 to 2000 she was a managing attorney for Baio, Dratfield and Associates, and from 1990 to 1999 she was a partner with Gordon, Muir and Foley.

She also served as a law clerk from 1989 to 1990 for the Honorable Flemming L. Norcott, Jr. of the Connecticut Appellate Court.

She has been elected to serve two terms as mayor.

She has served as a member and chair of the State Contracting Standards Board, president of the Trinity Club of Hartford Alumni Association, past president of the Hartford County Bar Association, past president of the Connecticut Defense Lawyers Association, and past president of the Rocky Hill Chamber of Commerce, among others.

She is a graduate of Trinity College, where she received a Bachelor of Arts in English and Educational Studies, and the University of Connecticut School of Law, where she received a Juris Doctor degree.

Photo Credit: Mayor Claudia Baio

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