Governor Rell Nominates Appellate Court Judge

C. Ian McLachlan to Fill Supreme Court Vacancy

            Governor M. Jodi Rell today announced she will nominate Appellate Court Judge C. Ian McLachlan of Chester to the Connecticut Supreme Court. Judge McLachlan is being nominated to the seat vacated by Justice Barry R. Schaller, who reached the mandatory retirement age late last year.

            “Judge McLachlan exemplifies the experience, integrity and depth of knowledge essential to success as a member of our state’s highest court,” Governor Rell said. “He has written extensively on issues such as family law and related tax issues and served both the people and his profession on a number of state government and Connecticut Bar Association panels and task forces.

            “I am pleased that Judge McLachlan is accepting this new challenge,” the Governor said. “Much is asked of judges at all levels of our court system. At the highest level, we ask them to parse some of the most difficult and demanding questions possible. I am confident Judge McLachlan will do well in this role and look forward to his confirmation by the General Assembly.”

            Judge McLachlan, 66, is a 1964 graduate of Georgetown University who obtained his law degree from Fordham University in 1967. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve from 1967 to 1973 and attended the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, Calif. He was admitted to the New York bar in 1967 and to the Connecticut bar in 1968.

            While on the Superior Court, Judge McLachlan had a variety of assignments, including presiding over Superior Court juvenile matters, the statewide Custody Docket and the Complex Litigation Docket.

            “I am extremely honored and humbled by the confidence the Governor has shown in making this nomination,” Judge McLachlan said. “When confirmed I look forward to working with Chief Justice Rogers, the members of the Supreme Court and the Judicial Branch on issues such as public access and transparency.”

            Judge McLachlan worked as an associate and a partner in the Stamford-based law firm of Cummings & Lockwood from 1969 until his nomination to the Superior Court in 1996, except from 1969 to 1973 when he was a principal in the Westport firm of Berkowitz, Balbirer & McLachlan. He was nominated to the Appellate Court in 2003.

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