Paul J. Knierim Elected to the Connecticut Bar Foundation James W. Cooper Fellows Program

The Honorable Paul J. Knierim of West Simsbury was elected a 2011 Fellow of the Connecticut Bar Foundation James W. Cooper Fellows Program, according to Timothy S. Fisher, President of the Connecticut Bar Foundation.

The James W. Cooper Fellows Program was established to honor the leading members of the legal profession and the Judiciary in Connecticut. Membership in the Fellows is by invitation only and is evidence of professional distinction.  Sixty-Eight new Fellows were elected this year. 

“We are pleased to recognize our new Fellows for their distinguished services to our legal system, and for their commitment to the principles of equal justice and the rule of law,” said attorney Fisher.

Judge Knierim is a probate court administrator for the State of Connecticut and has been a probate judge in Simsbury since 1999. He received a bachelor's degree from Williams College in 1986 and a J.D. from Yale Law School in 1989. He was admitted to the Connecticut Bar Association (CBA) in 1989.

Judge Knierim served on the executive committee of the CBA estates and probate section (1996-2000). He was chair of the ethics committee of the Connecticut Probate Assembly (2003-2008). He served as a member of National College of Probate Judges since 1999.

Judge Knierim was a trustee for the Simsbury Land Trust (1991-2006) and the Connecticut Trust for Historic Preservation (1997-2000) and also served on the Simsbury Beautification Committee (2007-present). In 2011, he became a tutor for the Literacy Volunteers of Greater Hartford. He was the Simsbury Town Meeting Moderator (1997-1998) and State Representative in the Connecticut General Assembly (1991-1997).

He resides with his partner Greg Nickett, in West Simsbury.

Judge Knierim was honored at a reception at Bushnell Autorino Great Hall on May 10.

The Fellows Program, now in its 17th year, has 831 members. In addition to lawyers in private practice, the group consists of U.S. Court of Appeals judges, U.S. District Court judges, Connecticut Supreme, Appellate, and Superior Court judges. It also includes corporate counsels and attorneys at corporations, heads of associations and corporations, directors and attorneys at legal services agencies, and lawyers in government. Finally, it includes the deans, former deans, and professors of law at Connecticut’s law schools, past and current leadership of the Connecticut Bar Association, and numerous present and former government leaders.

The purpose of the Fellows Program is to promote better understanding of the legal profession and the judicial system and to explore ways to improve the profession and the administration of justice in Connecticut. The Fellows help advance the mission of the Connecticut Bar Foundation to further the rule of law in Connecticut. This mission is based on the fundamental premise that the rule of law is essential to an orderly and just society and must be available to all, regardless of power or resources. The Foundation serves this mission in part by working to secure and administer a reliable and sufficient flow of funds to support legal services and access to justice for persons of limited means.

This press release was submitted by the Connecticut Bar Foundation.