Valley Bar Association Honors Kaplan, Seccombe

Judge Burton Kaplan is happy to be back in the Valley.

The senior judge at Superior Court in Derby, Judge Kaplan on May 1 received the Valley Bar Association’s Outstanding Jurist Award at its annual Law Day celebration at Grassy Hill Lodge in Derby. About 60 members attended.

During brief remarks after receiving the award, Kaplan said it was nice to be back to my roots,” noting his father-in-law and late wife were both born in Derby.

We took our cleaning to Seccombe’s and my kids got their first shoes at Hubbell,” Judge Kaplan said. So there’s always been a Valley connection.”

In addition, he said in the 1970s he became the first full-time assistant prosecutor appointed to the then-Fifth Circuit Court, which covered Orange, Milford, Derby, Ansonia, Seymour, Shelton, Oxford, and Beacon Falls. 

When I was assigned to Derby in 2009 it was like coming home,” Judge Kaplan added. The Valley Bar is just as much a pleasure to deal with now as they were in the 70s.”

He said it was important for lawyers and judges to get together at gatherings like Tuesday’s that are informal, as opposed to the courtroom’s formal setting.

In his time on the bench, he said, I try my best to be consistent, to be fair, and to treat everyone equally and with respect.”

Judge Kaplan also said he tries to remember that though he is now a judge, he’s also a lawyer, and tries to be efficient in managing cases to make their lives easier.

I realize that the only that that the lawyers have to sell is their time, and I try to get the lawyers out as quickly as possible, whether or not they agree with a proposed disposition,” he added, eliciting chuckles from many.

The group also honored Ansonia businessman Charles Seccombe with its Liberty Bell Award for his decades of public service as a volunteer with a multitude of Valley public service organizations.

PHOTO: Ethan FryEarlier, Milford Superior Court Judge Maureen Keegan served as the guest speaker at the event, and focused her remarks on court systems throughout the country needing to make difficult cuts in the midst of the recession while also guaranteeing access to courts.

Judge Keegan also noted that statistics gathered by the state’s Judicial Branch show the recession is forcing more and more people who feel they have no choice” to be their own lawyer in complicated legal matters.

The judicial branch is concerned about this trend because we all know that people are far better off when they have legal representation,” Judge Keegan said. We must find ways to address this growing challenge.”

Toward the end of Tuesday’s gathering, the group also presented James Cohen, the president of the Valley Community Foundation, with a $1,500 check from a fund it established in 2004 to be shared among several groups working to restore three stolen Valley war memorials.

We now have over $15,000 donated, and with this I believe we will be able to fully fund the renovation of all three of those monuments,” Cohen said while thanking the group. Click here to read more about the restoration efforts. 

The idea of a national Law Day was conceived in 1957 by American Bar Association President Charles Rhynes, according to Desi Imetovski, a Shelton lawyer who co-chaired Tuesday’s event with Caroline Baird, who practices in Ansonia.

In 1958, President Dwight D. Eisenhower established the first Law Day and in 1961 the U.S. Congress issued a joint resolution making May 1 Law Day. 

The theme of this year’s celebration was No Courts, No Justice, No Freedom,” highlighting the role courts and the judicial system have played throughout the country’s history.

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