Languages

• Spanish

Lawyer Overview

Willie Dow was born on Pearl Harbor Day, December 7, 1941, in New Haven and grew up in Stony Creek. Willie graduated from Yale University with a BA Degree in 1963 and then served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Colombia from 1963 to 1965. He became fluent in Spanish and still retains a working knowledge of that language. After The Peace Corps he attended the University of Pennsylvania Law School, graduating in 1968. He received a Reginald Heber Smith Fellowship and worked for two years with legal services programs in Florida and Washington, D.C. From 1970 to 1974 Willie was an attorney with the Public Defender Service in the District of Columbia. He returned to Connecticut as an Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut in 1974 and served in that position until August of 1976 when he joined the firm.

Willie maintains a heavy litigation practice. His principal focus has been criminal and white collar defense in both state and federal courts. He has represented clients in cases ranging from homicide and crimes of violence, drug offenses and theft, to sophisticated white collar litigation. He has defended individuals and organizations in the trial courts and has argued appeals in the Connecticut Supreme and Appellate Courts and the Federal Courts of Appeals in the Second, Third and District of Colombia Circuits.

Willie has been a Lecturer in Trial Practice at the Yale Law School for more than 30 years. For the last ten years he has co-taught a course on Forensic Science at the Quinnipiac University Law School with Drs. Henry Lee and Elaine Pagliaro. He is a fellow of the America College of Trial Lawyers. He has previously been appointed by the Governor to the Judicial Selection Committee and serves a member of the Connecticut Judicial Branch Criminal Division Task Force. He been Chair of the Executive Committee of the Section for the Administrative Criminal Justice of the Connecticut Bar Association and served for two terms as President of the Connecticut Criminal Defense Lawyers Association. He has also served on the Drafting Committee of the Evidence Code adopted by the Judges of the Superior Court. He is a member of the Executive Committee of the Federal Practice Section of the Connecticut Bar Association. He has been appointed by the Chief Justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court to the Client Security Fund on which he presently serves. For the past 20 years he has co-chaired the annual Criminal Litigation Seminar sponsored by the Connecticut Trial Lawyers Association.

For more than fifteen years Willie has been included in the Best Lawyers in America. Since 2006 he has been recognized by Connecticut Magazine as a "Super Lawyer" and in 2008 was voted by his peers as the top attorney in Connecticut.

Among his clients is the former Governor of the State of Connecticut whom he represented in impeachment proceedings before the Connecticut State Legislature and in a federal criminal prosecution; numerous attorneys, judges and physicians in disciplinary proceedings; and a number of companies and organizations that have been the target of state and federal investigations.

Willie has also represented a number of college students. Most recently he secured an acquittal on a charge of Sexual Assault before a jury in Superior Court in New Haven; prevailed on two additional Sexual Assault claims before an administrative bodies at a local university; and secured a dismissal on a highly-publicized flag burning incident. He obtained a new trial for a teacher accused of Risk of Injury due to computer pop-ups in a case that received national media attention.

In addition to a trial and teaching practice he is the author of a regular column for the New Haven County Bar Association publication, Marble Columns.

Areas of Practice

• Criminal Law 85%
• Administrative Law 5%
• Professional Responsibility 5%
• Miscellaneous 5%

Representative Cases

• Clisham v. Board of Police Commissioners, 223 Conn. 354, 613 A.2d 254 (1992)
• State of Connecticut v. Morrissey, 216 Conn. 185, 577 A.2d 1060 (1990)
• United States v. Dennis, 843 F. 2d 652 (2d Cir. 1988)
• Tsokalas v. Purtill, 756 F. Supp. 89 (D. Conn. 1991)
• Rauccio v. Frank, 750 F. Supp. 566 (D. Conn. 1990)
• State of Connecticut v. Milum, 197 Conn. 602, 500 A.2d 555 (1985)
• Williams v. Warden, Federal Correctional Institution, Danbury, Connecticut, 470 F. Supp. 1123 (D. Conn. 1979)

West Practice Categories

Administrative Hearings & Adjudication, Freedom of Information, Grand Jury Proceedings, Prisoners' Rights, Search & Seizure Protections, Criminal Law, Criminal Fraud, DUI/DWI, Drug Violations, Federal, Felonies, Juvenile Crimes, Misdemeanor, Parole & Probation, Prosecution, RICO Act, Sex Offenses, Traffic Violations, Victims' Rights, White Collar Crimes, Private Schools, Public Schools, Election & Campaign Law, Ethics & Professional Responsibility, Ethics, Professional Responsibility, Food & Drug Administration, Debarment, Defense Contracts, Federal Contracts, Complex Litigation, Federal Appellate Practice, Federal Trial Practice, State Appellate Practice, State Trial Practice, Animal Bites -- Plaintiff, Assault & Battery -- Plaintiff, Motor Vehicle Accidents -- Plaintiff, Premises Liability -- Plaintiff, Slip and Fall -- Plaintiff, Wrongful Death -- Plaintiff

Bar Admissions

• Florida, 1968
• Connecticut, 1969
• District of Columbia, 1969
• U.S. District Court District of Connecticut, 1974
• U.S. District Court District of Vermont, 1995
• U.S. District Court Middle District of Florida, 1969
• U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia, 1969
• U.S. Court of Appeals District of Columbia Circuit, 1970
• U.S. Court of Appeals 2nd Circuit, 1975
• U.S. Court of Appeals 3rd Circuit, 1977
• U.S. Supreme Court, 1981

Professional Associations and Memberships

• American Bar Association (Member)
• Connecticut Trial Lawyers Association (Member)
• Connecticut Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, 1990 - 1992 (President)
• National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (Member)
• Federal Bar Council (Member)
• Connecticut Bar Association (Member, Federal Judiciary Committee)
• Superior Court Criminal Division Task Force, 1993 - Present (Member)
• Judicial Selection Committee, 1993 - 1998 (Member)
• Second Circuit Committee on Admissions and Grievances, 1983 - 1993 (Member)
• Reappointment of Federal Public Defender for the District of Connecticut, 2000 (Chair, Merit Review Panel)
• Task Force on Post-Verdict Interviews of Juries, 1996 (Member)
• New Haven County Bar Association, 1999 - Present (Member, Executive Committee)
• New Haven County Bar Association, 1990 - Present (Member, Committee for Development Opportunities for Minority Lawyers)
• New Haven County Bar Association, 1994 - Present (Member, Continuing Legal Education Committee)
• Connecticut Bar Association, 1989 - 1991 (Secretary, Executive Committee)
• Connecticut Bar Association, 1992 - 1994 (Chair, Executive Committee)
• Connecticut Bar Association, Section for Administration of Criminal Justice, 1991 (Member)
• Connecticut Bar Association, 1979 (Co-Chairman, Trial Advocacy Seminar Program Committee)
• Connecticut Bar Association, 1981 (Secretary, Special Committee on Certification of Specialists)
• Connecticut Bar Association, 1991 - Present (Member, Court Rules Advisory Committee)
• Connecticut Bar Association, 1991 - 1994 (Member, Committee on Liaison with State Courts)
• Connecticut Bar Association, Federal Practice Section, 1988 - Present (Member)
• Connecticut Bar Association, 1995 - Present (Member, Executive Committee)
• Connecticut Bar Association (Chair, Criminal Practice Subcommittee; Awards Committee)
• The District of Columbia Bar, 1972 (Member, Committee for Revision of Criminal Jury Instructions for D.C.)

Honors and Awards

• Fellow, American College of Trial Lawyers
• Fellow, American Board of Criminal Lawyers
• Charter Fellow, Connecticut Bar Foundation
• Listed in The Best Lawyers in America in the Areas of White Collar and Non-White Collar Criminal Defense Representation
• Listed in Superlawyers for Connecticut

Classes and Seminars

• Criminal Practice Seminar, Connecticut Trial Lawyers Association, 1980 - Present
• Tutor in Law, Yale Law School, 1976 - Present
• Miscellaneous Seminars, Connecticut Trial Lawyers Association & Connecticut Bar Association
• Adjunct Faculty, Quinnipiac University Law School, 1999 - Present

Past Employment Positions

• Office of the US Attorney for the District of Connecticut, Assistant US Attorney, 1974 - 1976
• Public Defender for the District of Columbia, Staff Attorney, 1970 - 1974
• Public Defender Services Commission, Chair, 1992 - 1994
• Public Defender Service of the District of Columbia, Trial Attorney, 1970 - 1973
• Public Defender Service of the District of Columbia, Chief, Juvenile Division, 1973 - 1974
• Connecticut Law Review Commission, Member, Evidence Code Drafting Committee, 1995 - 1998

Education

• University of Pennsylvania Law School, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1968
  LL.B.
• Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, 1963
  B.A.
  Major: Political Science

Offers Free Initial Consultation

Address

350 Orange Street
New Haven, CT 06511-6403

Phones

203-772-3100

Faxes

203-772-1691

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Websites

http://www.jacobslaw.com