Hartford, Connecticut– Attorney Andrew S. Groher of South Glastonbury was elected a 2013 Fellow of the Connecticut Bar Foundation James W. Cooper Fellows Program. “We are pleased to recognize our new Fellows for their distinguished services to our legal system and for their commitment to the principles of equal justice and the rule of law,” said Peter Arakas, President of the Connecticut Bar Foundation.
The Connecticut Bar Foundation James W. Cooper Fellows Program was established to honor the leading members of the legal profession and the Judiciary in Connecticut, to promote a better understanding of the legal profession and the judicial system, and to explore ways to improve the profession and the administration of justice in Connecticut. Membership in the Fellows is by invitation only and is evidence of professional distinction. Seventy-seven new Fellows were elected this year.
Attorney Groher is a partner at RisCassi & Davis, P.C. in Hartford. He received a B.A. from the University of Virginia in 1975 and a J.D. from the University of Connecticut School of Law in 1978. He was admitted to the Connecticut Bar in 1978. He is also admitted to the United States District Court, District of Connecticut.
Attorney Groher has been a Member of the Board of Directors for the Connecticut Trial Lawyers Association for many years and was President from 1998 to 1999. He is also a member of the Hartford County Bar Association, American Association for Justice, and American Bar Association.
Attorney Groher is a past member of the Board of Directors for the Connecticut Traumatic Brain Injury Association. He is a Board Certified Civil Trial Advocate by the National Board of Trial Advocacy. He has been an adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Connecticut School of Law since 1988.
Attorney Groher resides with his wife, Linda, in South Glastonbury. They have two children, Amanda and Melissa.
Attorney Groher was honored at a reception at the Hartford Club on May 1, 2013.
The Fellows Program, now in its 19th year, has 960 members. In addition to lawyers in private practice, the group consists of U.S. Court of Appeals judges, U.S. District Court judges, Connecticut Supreme, Appellate, and Superior Court judges. It also includes corporate counsels and attorneys at corporations, heads of associations and corporations, directors and attorneys at legal services agencies, and lawyers in government. Further, it includes the deans, former deans, and professors of law at Connecticut’s law schools, past and current leadership of the Connecticut Bar Association, and numerous present and former government leaders.
The Connecticut Bar Foundation is a philanthropic organization that develops and administers programs to enhance the understanding and improvement of the law and legal institutions, and it sponsors educational symposia. The Foundation administers several programs including the Interest on Lawyers’ Trust Accounts (IOLTA) and the Interest on Trust Accounts (IOTA) programs which provide funds for the delivery of legal services for the poor. Also, the Foundation administers the Judicial Branch Grants-in-Aid and the Court Fees Grants-in-Aid programs for legal services.