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Essay Contest

Additional Contest Information

About the Essay Contest

Now in its 23rd year, the Essay Contest was started by the Foundation’s James W. Cooper Fellows in 2000.  The purpose of the essay contest is to get young people in Connecticut thinking about and exploring legal issues relevant to them.

In 2011, the Essay Contest was named after Quintin Johnstone, who was a professor at Yale Law School before his death in 2014.  Johnstone served as past president of the Connecticut Bar Foundation, participated in a variety of Fellows projects for many years, and was a longtime member of the Fellows Education and Program Committee, which helps to organize Fellows projects like the annual Essay Contest.

The 2022-2023 contest generated over 100 entries from across Connecticut.  The Foundation thanks the student essayists, and the schools and teachers who supported them, for their participation.

We also wish to thank the Connecticut Supreme Court for their continued support of the Essay Contest, and for welcoming us back to the court on June 6, 2023, for our awards ceremony.

Finally, we want to thank the over 140 attorneys and judges from across the state who reviewed and scored the essays this year. Justices, judges, and attorneys who participated in the final round of judging for the 2022-2023 contest were: Justice Richard Palmer, Judge Alexandra DiPentima, Judge Ingrid Moll, Judge Maureen Dennis, and Attorney Robert Harris.

Click here to view a complete list of the 2022-2023 Essay Contest Judges.

2022-2023 Essay Contest Committee

Justine C. Rakich-Kelly, Chair
Hon. Claudia Baio 
Jeff Blumenthal 
Sheila Charmoy 
David R. Chipman 
Matthew Cholewa 
Ann-Marie DeGraffenreidt 
Susan Freedman 
Gary Giaimo 
Emily Gianquinto 
Gary R. Gold 
Hon. Ernest Green, Jr. 
Gail Hardy 
Rob Harris 
Hon. Maureen Keegan 
Tamara Kagan Levine 
Bill Logue 
Ernest Mattei 
Yamuna Menon 
Colleen M. Murphy 
Sara Nadim 
Dean Eboni Nelson 
Hon. Cesar Noble 
Hon. Maureen Price-Boreland 
Linda Randell 
Hon. Angela Robinson (Ret.) 
Dan Schwartz 
Carolyn Signorelli 
Jack G. Steigelfest 
Hon. James Tancredi 
Hon. Erika Tindill 
Hon. Dave Vatti 
Gayle Wintjen 

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