(HARTFORD, CT) – Governor Ned Lamont today announced that he is nominating 22 jurists to serve as judges of the Connecticut Superior Court and one jurist to serve as a family support magistrate. There are currently 35 vacancies on the Superior Court.

“One of the most notable honors of my responsibilities as governor is to fill vacancies in our court system with capable jurists whose qualifications meet the high standards that the people of Connecticut deserve on the bench,” Governor Lamont said. “This group of nominees I am forwarding to the legislature today continues this administration’s effort to ensure that the people who are serving as judges in our state reflect the diversity, experience, and understanding of the people who live here.”

The Superior Court nominees include:

Nicole Anker, 51, of Glastonbury: Anker graduated from Yale College and obtained her Juris Doctor degree from the University of Connecticut School of Law. She is currently the legal director for the Connecticut Department of Correction, where she has practiced law for the last seventeen years and focuses on constitutional and employment law. Prior to entering state service, she was a litigation and employment law associate at two large multinational law firms, including Bingham McCutchen, LLP, and Brown, Raysman, Millstein, Felder and Steiner, LLP.
Tamar R. Birckhead, 58, of Hartford: Birckhead graduated from Yale University and obtained her Juris Doctor degree from Harvard University. She is currently a solo practitioner at Birckhead Law LLC, where she primarily works as appointed counsel representing indigent individuals in criminal and juvenile courts. Prior to entering private practice, she taught law and served as the director of clinical programs at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Law. She began her legal career as a public defender at the Committee for Public Counsel Services in Massachusetts and then as an assistant federal defender for the Office of the Federal Defender for the District of Massachusetts. She has practiced law for 32 years.
Corrine A. Boni-Vendola, 58, of Wallingford: Boni-Vendola graduated from Boston University and obtained her Juris Doctor degree from the Massachusetts School of Law School. She is currently a partner at Charles and Boni-Vendola, LLC, which she co-founded in 2000. She primarily focuses on family and matrimonial law.
Kristin A. Connors, 57, of Newtown: Connors graduated from Villanova University and obtained her Juris Doctor degree from the University of Connecticut School of Law. She is currently a named partner at Stockman O’Connor Connors PLLC. Previously she was a partner and head of the healthcare law group at Carmody Torrance Sandak and Hennessey LLP. Her practice concentration for over thirty years has been complex civil litigation, primarily medical malpractice and product liability actions.
Steven R. Dembo, 58, of Bloomfield: Dembo graduated from State University of New York at Binghamton and obtained his Juris Doctor degree from Western New England College School of Law. Dembo is a partner with Berman Mickelson Dembo and Jacobs, LLC, where he has served as a trial and appellate lawyer practicing in the areas of family law, juvenile, administrative, general litigation, and mediation. Previously, he was a litigation attorney for the City of Waterbury and in private practice at Budlong Becker and Murrett.
Cody N. Guarnieri, 37, of South Windsor: Guarnieri graduated from Eastern Connecticut State University and obtained his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Connecticut School of Law. He is currently a senior partner and trial attorney at the law firm of Brown, Paindiris and Scott, LLP. His law practice focuses on all aspects of litigation, including representing criminal defendants in Connecticut state and federal courts, representing plaintiffs in civil personal injury and small business litigation, and defending professional license holders before the various departments and boards of the State of Connecticut.
Christine Jean-Louis, 42, of Wallingford: Jean-Louis graduated from New York University and obtained her Juris Doctor degree from the University of Connecticut School of Law. She is currently the general counsel for the Office of Lieutenant Governor Susan Bysiewicz, and previously worked as an assistant attorney general within the Office of the Attorney General’s Infrastructure and Economic Development (Transportation) section. Prior to that, she was an associate at Wiggin and Dana, where she litigated in the areas of antitrust, franchise, contract, and commercial litigation, while also serving as a federal criminal defense lawyer under the Criminal Justice Act. She also served as a law clerk at the Connecticut Appellate Court for Justice Lubbie Harper, and at the United States District Court for Judge Alvin Thompson.
Devant J. Joiner, 54, of Middletown: Joiner graduated from Saint John’s University and obtained his Juris Doctor degree from Quinnipiac University School of Law. He is currently serving as a senior assistant state’s attorney in the New Britain Superior Court. Before transferring to New Britain, he worked in the New Haven Superior Court. He has spent his 17 years as an attorney working for the Division of Criminal Justice in the G.A. courts. During his time with the Division of Criminal Justice, he has worked with both federal, state, and local departments on serious weapon and narcotics matters. He has also spoken to middle school and high school students and community groups on behalf of the Division of Criminal Justice. He was also honorably discharged from the United States Marine Corps.
Cristina M. Lopez, 46, of Wethersfield: Lopez graduated from Middlebury College and obtained her Juris Doctor degree from Boston University School of Law. She is senior counsel in business law at The Hartford, where she provides legal advice to various business units. In her prior role as senior counsel in coverage litigation, she managed complex environmental and construction cases and provided legal advice to the claims organization. Prior to joining The Hartford, she worked in private practice, primarily representing policyholders in insurance coverage litigation and plaintiffs in personal injury actions. Lopez has been practicing law for more than 20 years.
Sara Nadim, 40, Unionville: Nadim graduated from the University of Pennsylvania and obtained her Juris Doctor degree from the University of Connecticut School of Law. She is currently an assistant attorney general in the Connecticut Attorney General’s Office. She serves in the antitrust division representing the state in multistate investigations into national companies for anticompetitive conduct. Previously, she focused on the state’s vast opioid litigation against the pharmaceutical industry. She also served in the office’s child protection section representing the state in both the Appellate and Supreme Court. She was formerly an assistant public defender where she represented hundreds of indigent clients in serious criminal matters.
Matthew Necci, 42, Glastonbury: Necci graduated from the University of Connecticut and obtained his Juris Doctor degree from New York Law School. He currently is of counsel at the Montstream Law Group, and previously was a partner at Halloran and Sage, where he chaired the firm’s Workers’ Compensation practice group. He currently serves as chairman of the board of directors for Special Olympics Connecticut.
Susan E. Nugent, 62, Hamden: Nugent graduated from Fordham University and obtained her Juris Doctor degree from The Catholic University of America. She is a partner at Murphy and Nugent in New Haven. She also serves as the assistant clerk of the Connecticut Senate. She has practiced law for more than 30 years with a primary focus in the areas of matrimonial and family law.
John Regan, 62, of Old Greenwich: Regan graduated from Siena College and obtained his Juris Doctor degree from Quinnipiac University School of Law. He is currently a solo practitioner at the Law Office of John Regan, representing a diverse clientele in litigation in civil, criminal, housing, and juvenile matters, including numerous assignments as a special public defender, special needs children and veterans. He is also chairman of the St. John Urban Development Corporation, which provides affordable housing in Stamford.
Maria C. Rodriguez, 59, of West Hartford: Rodriguez graduated from Trinity College and obtained her Juris Doctor degree from Boston College. She is currently an assistant attorney general in the Connecticut Attorney General’s Office. She serves in the Employment/Workers’ Compensation/Labor Section and has practiced employment and labor law in this position for the last 32 years.
Adam R. Schibley, 38, of Windsor: Schibley graduated from Saint Anselm College and obtained his Juris Doctor degree from Quinnipiac University School of Law. He is currently employed as a permanent law clerk at the Connecticut Supreme Court. Over the last fifteen years, he has also served as the assistant reporter of judicial decisions assigned to the chambers of Chief Justice Richard A. Robinson and as a law clerk to the Complex Litigation Docket of the Superior Court, the Honorable Barry R. Schaller at the Appellate Court, and the Honorable Maria Araújo Kahn on the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
Pedro E. Segarra, 64, of Hartford: Segarra graduated from the University of Hartford and obtained his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Connecticut School of Law. He is currently an administrative law judge at the Connecticut Workers’ Compensation Commission. He served as Hartford City Council member and council president, and previously worked as Hartford corporation counsel and as a deputy assistant state’s attorney. He was formerly an attorney in the general practice of law where he provided services in the areas of criminal defense, civil, real estate, family and administrative law. Prior to his present job, he served as the mayor for the City of Hartford.
Eric P. Smith, 53, of Litchfield: Smith graduated from University of New Haven and obtained his Juris Doctor degree from Quinnipiac University School of Law. He is currently a partner and trial lawyer at Faxon Law Group, where he represents catastrophic injury victims and their families in tort claims with a focus on medical malpractice. Prior to this, he was a partner at Lynch, Traub, Keefe and Errante, where he litigated a wide array of civil disputes in both state and federal trial and appellate courts, and an adjunct professor of legal studies at Norwalk Community College. He currently serves as a director on the board of New Haven Legal Assistance Association. He has been practicing law for more than 28 years.
Alayna M. Stone, 41, of New Haven: Stone graduated from Yale University and obtained her Juris Doctor degree from the Georgetown University Law Center and master’s degree from the Georgetown McCourt School of Public Policy. She currently serves as associate attorney general and chief of the Division of Civil Litigation at the Connecticut Office of the Attorney General, overseeing the functions of the office’s Employment, Workers’ Compensation and Labor, Health and Education, Public Safety and General Litigation sections. Prior to her appointment, she served as an assistant attorney general for eight years in the Special Litigation section at the Attorney General’s Office, where she represented all branches of state government. Prior to joining the Attorney General’s Office, she clerked for two years at the Connecticut Superior Court, one year at the Connecticut Appellate Court for now-Chief Justice Richard A. Robinson, and one year at the Connecticut Supreme Court for former Associate Justice Carmen E. Espinosa.
Melissa L. Streeto, 51, of Wethersfield: Streeto graduated from Holy Cross College and obtained her Juris Doctor degree from Quinnipiac University Law School. She is currently a senior assistant state’s attorney in the State of Connecticut Division of Criminal Justice. She is employed in the Appellate Bureau, where she has been handling criminal appeals for nearly 23 years. Streeto also currently serves as president of the Connecticut Association of Prosecutors.
Nicole J. Tung, 54, of Cheshire: Tung graduated from State University of New York at Stony Brook and obtained her Juris Doctor degree from the University of Connecticut School of Law. She is currently a partner at Halloran Sage. She has been engaged in the practice of civil litigation for 30 years, primarily handling general liability and insurance defense matters, and conducting private mediations and arbitrations. Prior to joining her current firm, she was a senior trial attorney for national insurance companies. She is currently an officer of the Connecticut Chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates, and the New Haven County Bar Association. She also serves on the Board for Friends of Yale New Haven Children's Hospital.
Matthew T. Wax-Krell, 44, of West Hartford: Wax-Krell graduated from Emory University and obtained his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Connecticut School of Law. He is currently a partner at Rogin Nassau LLC, focusing on business litigation. In addition, he serves on the Connecticut Bar Examining Committee, the board of directors for Greater Hartford Legal Aid, and the board of directors for the West Hartford Little League.
Colleen Zingaro, 57, of Newtown: Zingaro graduated from Manhattan College and earned her Juris Doctor degree from Quinnipiac University School of Law. She currently serves as the supervisor of the Violent Crime Unit of the Bridgeport Judicial District. She previously worked as a prosecutor in the Danbury Judicial District and Stamford Judicial District.

The family support magistrate nominee is:

Jessica W. Simpson, 37, of Windsor: Simpson graduated from Hampton University and obtained her Juris Doctor degree from Western New England University. She currently works as an assistant attorney general with the Connecticut Office of the Attorney General. She serves in the Child Support and Collections Section.

The Office of the Governor is forwarding the names of these nominees to the General Assembly for its advice and consent.