Ryan P. Barry Named James W. Cooper Fellow of Connecticut Bar Foundation

On May 6, 2019, partner Ryan P. Barry became a James W. Cooper Fellow of the Connecticut Bar Foundation. He was nominated for membership by Atty. Tim Shearin, the managing partner of Pullman Comley, a large law firm based in Bridgeport, CT.

The Connecticut Bar Foundation was founded in 1952 to help fund legal services for Connecticut residents who cannot afford to hire attorneys on their own. The Foundation now works “in partnership with judges, attorneys, and law schools to promote understanding and improvement of the law, legal institutions, and the legal profession.”

Being nominated and selected as a Fellow is an incredible honor, reserved only for members of the legal community who have “outstanding professional, public and private careers in which they have demonstrated extraordinary legal ability and devotion to the welfare of their Community, State and Nation [and] advancement of the legal profession.” Attorneys, judges, and law school professors must be nominated by other Fellows. From there, the Fellows Nominating Committee reviews and selects candidates, who are then approved by the Foundation’s Board of Directors and the Fellows themselves.

Per the Connecticut Bar Foundation, a nominee must be:

• a member in good standing of the State Bar of Connecticut
• a teacher of law regularly employed as such in the State of Connecticut who has been admitted to the Bar of any other state
• a federal judge residing in Connecticut who has been admitted to the Bar of any other state
• a person registered as an authorized house counsel as defined in Section 2-15A of the Connecticut Rules of Professional Conduct

Mr. Barry has dedicated his entire career to upholding the law. He served as an elected member of the Connecticut House of Representatives for eight years, and he is active in legal associations and organizations including the American Association for Justice, the American Bar Association, the Connecticut Bar Associations, and the Connecticut Council of Bar Presidents. He is also a member of the Connecticut Statewide Grievance Committee, which reviews and renders decisions on complaints that have been lodges against lawyers. His work on behalf of these and other legal organizations, as well as his service in various leadership roles, has helped strengthen the foundations of justice in Connecticut and across the country.

Barry, Barall, Taylor & Levesque, LLC would like to offer its congratulations to Ryan P. Barry on his membership into this prestigious organization. We hope you will join us.