Anne C. Dranginis
(860) 493-3538
Anne C. Dranginis retired as an Associate Judge of the Connecticut Appellate Court on January 31, 2006, to become a principal at Rome McGuigan, P.C., 1 State Street, Hartford, CT. She received her undergraduate degree in 1969 from Manhattanville College, Purchase, N.Y., and received a J.D. at the University of Connecticut School of Law in 1972.
Anne Dranginis practiced with the firm of Rome and Case in Bloomfield, Connecticut until 1977 when she became the first woman Assistant State's Attorney for the Connecticut Superior Court. She prosecuted major felonies for eight years, including the prosecution of Charles "Buck" Thurman, whose wife, Tracy was brutally beaten, and which case spurred the development of family violence laws throughout the country. She was appointed in 1985 to the Connecticut Superior Court, and in 2000, she was elevated to the Appellate Court.
Judge Dranginis served in all capacities as a trial judge, including serving as Presiding Criminal Judge for Part A (major felonies) in Waterbury and Litchfield. She was the Administrative Judge in Litchfield from 1990-1994, where she presided over the declaratory judgment case testing the constitutionality of the assault weapon ban, and the challenge to the State's "hunter harassment" statute. She was specially assigned to preside over Connecticut's so-called "Right to Die" case. In 1994, she was appointed the Chief Administrative Judge for Family Matters for the Connecticut Superior Court, and led the changes in family practice which provided for automatic orders upon the filing of dissolution or custody complaints. The family case management system required counsel and the parties to agree and communicate with the court on deadlines for discovery and ADR, and trial dates. The Practice Book revisions allowed the family dockets statewide to be within guidelines established by the American Bar Association.
Anne Dranginis is a member of the Litchfield County, Hartford County, and Connecticut Bar Associations serving as Secretary from 2009-2010, the Chair of the Connecticut Bar Examining Committee, and is on the Board of the Children's Charities of America, the federation of charities in the Combined Federal Campaign and the Connecticut Women's Education & Legal Fund ("CWEALF"), the advisory board of the Susan B. Anthony Project, Torrington, CT, Prime Time House in Torrington, CT, and served on the Governor's Commission on Custody, Divorce and Children as Co-Chair from 2001-2002 .
Anne Dranginis practices in the areas of arbitration and mediation, matrimonial law corporate compliance and governance, trial strategy and appellate law.
Post-Legal Education:
National Institute for Trial Advocacy July, 1976 and January, 1977 Cornell Law School Ithaca, New York
National District Attorneys Association Short Course for Prosecutors Northwestern University School of Law Chicago, Illinois July, 1978
National District Attorneys Association The Prosecution of Violent Crimes Boston, Massachusetts February 15-16, 1979
National District Attorneys Association Trial Advocacy for Prosecutors Singer Island, Florida November 1-5, 1981
National Judicial College
National Conference of the Judiciary on Bioethics Reno, Nevada, September 7-10, 1989
Connecticut Judges' Institute Yearly 1985-2006
New York University School of Law Institute for Judicial Administration 2001 New Appellate Judges Seminar July 8-13, 2001
Economics for Judges American Enterprise Institute/Brookings Joint Center for Regulatory Studies March, 2004 and May, 2005
Governor's Commission on Judicial Reform, 2006
Judicial Branch Family Commission
Judicial Branch, Strategic Plan
Judicial Perfomance Evaluation Program Committee
Areas of Practice
- 15% Appellate
- 25% Mediation / Arbitration
- 30% Matrimonial Litigation & Private Judging
- 30% Civil Rights and General Litigation
Bar Admissions
- Connecticut, 1973
- U.S. District Court District of Connecticut, 1975
Education
- University of Connecticut School of Law, Hartford, Connecticut
- J.D. - 1972
- Manhattanville College, Purchase, New York
- A.B. - 1969
- Major: Philosophy
Classes/Seminars
- Office of the Chief State's Attorney Training Sessions, Connecticut Prosecutors Preparation of a Child Witness, Sexual Assault case, June 22, 1979
- Advanced Criminal Trial Advocacy Seminar Plea Bargaining, Connecticut Bar Association, November 9, 1979
- Fall Seminar, Civil Litigation, Depositions, Preparation, and Handling of Medical Experts, Connecticut Trial Lawyers Association, December 8, 1979
- Use of Forensic Science Pathology Section, Yale Law Women's Association Seminar, April 7, 1980
- Forensic Science, University of New Haven Master's Program Seminar, April 13, 1981
- 19th Annual Meeting Mystic, Connecticut Dog Tracking Evidence in Criminal Prosecution, National Police Bloodhound Association
- Forensic Evidence In-Service Training for Connecticut Prosecutors, U.S. Navy Submarine Base Groton, Connecticut, 1983
- Rape Crisis Training Seminar , Torrington Police Department
- "The Child As A Witness In Sexual Assault Cases" Mystic Connecticut, National Association of Forensic Social Workers Annual Meeting, 1988
- "The Child As Witness:" Alexandria VA, United States Department of Justice Federal Crimes Against Children, February 16, 1989 - February 17, 1989
- "Withholding & Withdrawing Artificial Nutrition and Hydration - The McConnell Case and Beyond", University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, CT, September 23, 1989
- "Complex Issues in Law & Medicine", National Judicial College State Justice Institute, Princeton, NJ, October 4, 1990 - October 6, 1990
- People's Law School Program, Trial Lawyers Division , Connecticut Bar Association, 1989 - 1995
- "Seventh Annual National Conference on Children in the States", Association of Child Advocates, Baltimore, Maryland, September 16, 1991 - September 19, 1991
- "Legal Issues in the Workplace", Torrington Company, Torrington, CT, May 19, 1992
- Connecticut Bar Foundation Symposium: "Child Abuse and Neglect; How The Legal System Now Responds, and Can We Do Better?", University of Connecticut School of Law, May 9, 1992
- "The Crisis of Divorce: Pathways To A Good Outcome", The Institute of Living, Hartford, CT, September 30, 1992
- "Fetal Abuse: The Moral Dilemma of the 90's", American Bar Association Council of Appellate Staff Attorneys, Boston, MA, October 28, 1992
- Domestic Violence Prosecution Seminar, January 12, 1995
- Guardian Ad-Litem: Zealous Advocacy for Children, South Carolina Bar Association, University of South Carolina Law School Columbia, South Carolina, May 5, 1995
- Family Judges Parenting Education - Assisting the Divorcing Parents, State of Arizona, Tempe, Arizona, May 25, 1995
- Speaker, Domestic Violence Awareness Month, Aetna Life & Casualty, Hartford, CT, October 9, 1995
- The Child and the Court, Manchester Memorial Hospital AFCC Panel, October 27, 1995
- The Connecticut Experience, AFCC Parenting Education, Framingham, MA, November 28, 1995
- NVCTC - Civility & Leadership, January 27, 1996
- Cooper Fellows - The Survival of Legal Services for the Poor in Connecticut - Panel with Alexander Forger, President Legal Service Corporation, CT Bar Foundation, March 18, 1996
- Second World Congress on Family Law & The Rights of Children and Youth San, Francisco, CA, June 3, 1997 - June 6, 1997
- American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, New Family Rules New Haven, CT, September 8, 1997
- "New Family Rules", Connecticut Bar Association, North Haven, CT, September 27, 1997
- Citizen's Conference on the Connecticut's Courts, Connecticut Bar Association, Hartford, CT, November 7, 1997
- Domestic Violence Registries, Northeast Regional Conference, Albany, NY, November 13, 1997 - November 14, 1997
- Greater Enfield Bar Association , April 15, 1998
- New Britain Area League of Women Voters 25th Anniversary Celebration New Britain, CT, May 30, 1998
- "Children & The Adversarial System", Connecticut Bar Foundation James Cooper Fellows, Hartford, CT, June 19, 1998
- "Relocation after Ireland", Connecticut Bar Association Holiday Inn North Haven, CT, September 10, 1999
- Putting Children First AFCC - Northeast Regional Conference, Northeastern University School of Law, Boston, MA, September 18, 1999
- "Mediation Goes Mainstream", Connecticut Council of Family Service Agencies Parenting Education, October 29, 1999
- Connecticut Council of Divorce Mediators, November 4, 1999
- Law Librarians of New England Family Law From the New England Perspective, Quinnipiac College School of Law, Hamden, CT, November 5, 1999
- How to Put Together a Legally Sound Investigation, Multidisciplinary Investigation Teams Middlesex & Tolland Counties Rocky Hill, CT, February 18, 2000
- "Ways to Justice - Program III - Law for Connecticut Families", Connecticut Trial Lawyers Association, Connecticut Bar Association, Judicial Branch, Citizen's TV - New Haven, CT, February 28, 2000
Honors and Awards
- 5th Annual Award "Take a Daughter to Work Day", Litchfield County Women's Network, 1977
- Arnold Markle Law Enforcement Award, 1999
- "One Woman Makes a Difference", Connecticut Women's Education of Legal Fund, 2000
- Distinguished Service Award, American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers Connecticut Chapter, 2002
- 100th Anniversary Award, Women's College Club of Litchfield County, 2004
- Women In The Law Committee of the Connecticut Bar Association Young Lawyers Section, 2005
- Woman of the Year Award, Litchfield County Business and Professional Women, 2006
Professional Associations and Memberships
- Association of Family and Conciliation Courts (AFCC), Board of Directors, 1997
- Children's Charities of America, Board of Directors, 2004
- State Bar Examining Committee, 1977
- Connecticut Bar Association
- Hartford County Bar Association
- Litchfield County Bar Association
Past Employment Positions
- CT Judicial Branch, Associate Judge, 2000 - 2006
- CT Judicial Branch, CT Appellate Court Superior Court Judge, 1985 - 2000
- Appellate Court State of Connecticut, Associate Judge, 2000 - 2006
- Family Division Connecticut Superior Court, Chief Administrative Judge, 1994 - 2000
- Superior Court - Litchfield, Administrative Judge, 1990 - 1994
- Superior Court State of Connecticut, Judge, 1985 - 2000
- Judicial District of Litchfield, Assistant State's Attorney, 1978 - 1985
- Rome & Case, 1972 - 1978
