Biographies of Commission Members
Chairperson
Charles E. Tiernan, III
Charles E. Tiernan, Ill has been an attorney with the New Haven law firm of Lynch, Traub, Keefe & Errante since 1983. He was named a Partner in 1988. Attorney Tiernan began his career handling civil litigation and labor matters. Attorney Tiernan also provided representation in family matters where he tried a number of marriage dissolution and child custody cases. He now concentrates his practice on criminal defense, juvenile matters and workers' compensation matters. Attorney Tiernan regularly appears in the criminal courts throughout the State of Connecticut. He has extensive experience in all phases of criminal law and litigation including trials in both State and Federal court. Attorney Tiernan also handles cases involving all aspects of workers' compensation and matters before other state administrative agencies. His representation in juvenile matters includes handling delinquency and neglect petitions. Attorney Tiernan has argued appeals before the Connecticut Supreme Court and Connecticut Appellate Court.
Attorney Tiernan received his B.A. from Trinity College in 1980. He graduated from Drake University School of Law in December 1982. He was a member of the Board of Editors of the Drake Law Review and authored a note for the Drake Law Review entitled "Standing Barriers to Citizen and Taxpayers Suits in the Federal Court". 32 Drake Law Review 2, 1983.
Attorney Tiernan was admitted to the Connecticut Bar on May 3, 1983. He is also admitted to the United States District Court, the United States Tax Court, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and the United States Supreme Court. Attorney Tiernan is a member of the American, Connecticut and New Haven County Bar Associations, the Connecticut Criminal Defense Lawyers' Association and is a member of the Criminal Law Executive Committee of the Connecticut Bar Association. Attorney Tiernan has been a panel member and lectured in various seminars dealing with workers' compensation and cases involving operating under the influence. Attorney Tiernan has had articles published in the State of Connecticut Workers' Compensation Quarterly.
Attorney Tiernan has been appointed a member of the Ansonia-Milford Judicial District Grievance Panel of the Connecticut Grievance Committee several times throughout his career. Attorney Tiernan served as an adjunct professor at Quinnipiac University from 1989-2011 teaching courses involving Introduction to Law and Family Law.
Attorney Tiernan is rated “AV” by Martindale-Hubbell, its highest rating. He has been listed in The Best Lawyers in America since 2007 and has been listed in the Super Lawyers publication since 2006. In 2018, Attorney Tiernan was elected constable for the Town of Branford.
William A. Conti
William A. Conti attended local schools and received a B.A. from Boston College in 1970 and his Juris Doctor in 1973 from Boston College. He was admitted to the Connecticut Bar in 1973, to the Massachusetts Bar in 1974, and is also admitted to practice before the United States District Court and the United States Supreme Court.
Attorney Conti is a member of the American Bar Association, the Connecticut Bar Association, the Litchfield County Bar Association (Past President), The American Association for Justice, The Connecticut Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and the Connecticut Bar Foundation - James W. Fellows Program.
He is a member of numerous local civic and fraternal organizations including, but not limited to, Past President of the Torrington Chapter of UNICO, Past Co-Chairman of the Charter Revision Commission of the City of Torrington, Past Chairman of the Civil Service Commission of Torrington, Past Chairman of the Building and Renovation Committee for the Torrington High School, and Past Chairman of the Litchfield Democratic Town Committee. He is currently an Alternate Member of the Litchfield Planning and Zoning Commission.
Attorney Conti has been in private practice for 40 years. His areas of practice include Criminal Law, Worker's Compensation, Personal Injury Law, Civil Litigation, Residential and Commercial Real Estate Transactions, and Juvenile and School Law. He has successfully argued before the Connecticut Supreme Court and the Appellate Court of the State of Connecticut.
Criminal Law
For many years, Attorney Conti was the Court Advocate (Prosecutor) in Juvenile Court and has practiced in every county in the State of Connecticut in a variety of criminal matters including, but not limited to, DWI, sexual assaults, assaults, burglaries and larcenies, murder, domestic disputes and drug offenses.
Vice Chairperson
Gregory C. Davis, Esq.
Greg Davis is a native of Hartford. He graduated from Tufts University and Georgetown Law School. Greg worked at the law firm of Murtha Cullina and the Legal Department of Northeast Utilities before joining Travelers Insurance Company in 1997. Greg currently serves as President of the Hartford Public Library and served previously as President from 2009 to 2011; and he has been on the Board of the library since 2006. He has been an alumnus, trustee since 1991, and former Board President for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Hartford. Greg also serves on the Board of Overseers for the Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts, and he is Vice-President of the Board of Directors for the Hartford Youth Scholars.
Greg resides in Bloomfield where he is a member of The First Cathedral.
Edward R. Lennon, Jr.
Edward R. Lennon, Jr. is the Chief of Police of the East Haven Police Department, a position he has held since 2016. Prior to his appointment as Chief of Police, Chief Lennon held the ranks of Sergeant, Lieutenant and Deputy Chief, and numerous assignments throughout his tenure. During his career with the Department, he served as the Compliance Coordinator for the Settlement Agreement between the Town of East Haven and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). Upon completion of the strict terms of the Settlement Agreement, the Department showed unprecedented and significant compliance with all objectives, due largely in part to the oversight of Chief Lennon. The SA was dismissed after the Department met full compliance in December 2017. The U.S. Department of Justice and the Joint Compliance Expert praised his efforts to move the Department forward.
Chief Lennon has a strong commitment to developing and training employees to the highest standards of constitutional policing while also making sure the Department has and continues to have the most contemporary policies. Chief Lennon has made it his commitment to the East Haven community as well as the law enforcement profession to ensure that police are highly trained and educated, accountable for their actions, transparent, and responsive to the needs of their community.
Chief Lennon holds a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice as well as a Master’s Degree in National Security and Public Safety Management from the University of New Haven. More recently, Chief Lennon completed the Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government Senior Executives in State and Local Government executive training program and the 2016 New England Law Enforcement Executive Development Seminar sponsored by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (F.B.I.). Chief Lennon is a graduate of the 66th session of the Police Executive Research Forum (P.E.R.F.) Senior Management Institute for Police (S.M.I.P.) and the 258th session of the F.B.I. National Academy.
Chief Lennon is a HOPE Family Justice Center of Greater New Haven Board Member, and was a recipient of the 2017 International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) 40 Under 40 Award and the 2018 Police Commissioners Association of Connecticut Distinguished Chief Award.
Rosemarie Paine, Esq.
To Be Supplied
Kenneth Saccente
Kenneth (Ken) Saccente is a seventeen year veteran of the Connecticut State Capitol, having worked for both the Connecticut House of Representatives and the Connecticut Senate. He served in a variety of roles working for Democratic leadership in the House, serving the Majority Leader of the House for two years followed by ten years in the Office of the Speaker. While working for the House he held a variety of positions including Special Assistant to the Speaker and as a Policy Analyst.
Ken has spent the last four years working for the Majority Leader of the Senate rising to the position of Senior Advisor. He has shepherded all of the Majority Leader’s initiatives and bills through the process as well as assisted with floor operations. Major legislation he has worked on has included campaign finance reform and school security. During his time at the Capitol he has worked collegially with legislators and earned respect from both sides of the aisle.
In addition to his daily responsibilities Ken served on the Connecticut Lottery Board of Directors for nine years. During his tenure the Lottery achieved record sales of over $1 billion per year and transfers to the General Fund reach over $300 million for the first time. Ken has also volunteered as a Cub Scout leader and served on the executive board of the New Haven Chapter of the UConn Alumni Association.
Ken is a graduate of the University of Connecticut and lives in Orange with his wife Mara and their children Anna and Nathan and their dog Fritz.
Peter C. Smith
Peter (Pete) Smith is the managing Partner of Rome, Smith & Lutz, Inc., a Government Relations firm located in Hartford Connecticut. Rome Smith & Lutz is one of the top ten lobbying firms in the state representing a variety of clients from community based non-profits, the Mohegan Tribe to fortune 25 companies. Pete is a former state representative from Milford’s 119th district. During his time in the legislature, he was known for building consensus around issues and his passion for constituent causes. He served as co-chairman of the Conservation and Development sub-committee of the Appropriations Committee, vice chairman of the Commerce Committee, and as a member of the Environment and Transportation Committees.
Civic engagement is important to Pete. He has served on numerous boards and commissions both at the state and local level including Milford’s Fire Commission and Harbor Management Commission. Currently, he is the Chairman of Milford’s Downtown River High Street Development Committee and is serving his second term as a member of the Judicial Selection Commission. Pete and his family are active longtime supporters of The Tommy Fund for Childhood Cancer at Yale New Haven Hospital and participate in Yale Cancer Center – “Closer to Free” bike ride.
Scott Storms
To Be Supplied
James "Jamie" F. Sullivan
Jamie practices in the areas of personal injury, commercial and corporate, professional and product liability, employment, education, consumer, construction and class action litigation. He is an AV rated lawyer with Martindale-Hubble. He received his education and J.D. with Honors from the University of Connecticut School of Law, where he was Editor-In-Chief of the Connecticut Law Review and had received numerous academic awards. He received a B.A., summa cum laude, from Boston College in its honors program and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa and received the Scholar of the College Award.
Upon graduation from Law School, Jamie clerked for Justice Robert J. Callahan of the Connecticut Supreme Court. Jamie has lectured and given seminars on trial practice, legal ethics, legal writing, and various aspects of civil litigation before a number of groups. He is a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates. He has published a number of articles in the field of civil litigation, products liability, corporate liability, employment and constitutional law in the Connecticut Bar Journal, The Law Tribune, ABA Litigation Monograms, and The Connecticut Lawyer. He has tried many cases to verdict or judgment. He co-authored a book “Connecticut legal ethics and malpractice,” the first such treatise of its kind in Connecticut. The third edition of this book was released in 2016. He is the co-author of a chapter on Connecticut tort law in Morton E. Daller’s “Tort Law Reference: A Fifty-State Compendium” and Connecticut product liability law in Daller’s “Product Liability Law: A Fifty-State Compendium.”
Attorney Sullivan is active in a number of professional and civic organizations. He is a member of the House of Delegates and Board of Governors of the Connecticut Bar Association. He is a past President of the Hartford County Bar Association and chair of its Professional Responsibility Committee. He is on the board of editors of the Connecticut Law Tribune. Since 1993, he has been an editorial board member of the Connecticut Bar Journal and serves as its survey editor.
He is the immediate past president of the parish counsel at St. Thomas the Apostle Church. He lives in West Hartford, Connecticut with his wife Elizabeth and children Irene, Daniel and Grace.
William Welz
William (Bill) Welzjoined Gallo & Robinson as a lobbyist after six years serving the office of Governor Dannel P. Malloy. During that time, he served in a variety of positions, starting as the Executive Aide to the General Counsel, moving up to Senior Associate for Policy and Government Affairs and finally to Director of Policy. With his significant experience navigating the legislative process, he became a problem solver for the administration. He guided gubernatorial appointees through the confirmation process, moved the governor's priorities through the legislature and advised state agencies on policy positions and relations with the legislature and advocacy organizations.
Bill is a graduate of Eastern Connecticut State University and currently resides in Willington with his wife, Allison, his daughter, Eliza and his four-legged friend, Jax.