Local attorney elected to prestigous Fellows Program

Attorney Richard F. Orr of West Hartford was elected a 2012 Fellow of the Connecticut Bar Foundation James W. Cooper Fellows Program, according to Timothy S. Fisher, President of the Connecticut Bar Foundation.  

The Connecticut Bar Foundation James W. Cooper Fellows Program was established to honor the leading members of the legal profession and the Judiciary in Connecticut, to promote a 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. 

Membership in the Fellows is by invitation only and is evidence of professional distinction.  Sixty-three 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 Fisher. 

Orr is General Counsel at the University of Connecticut in Storrs. He received a B.A., cum laude from Dickinson College in 1974 and a J.D., cum laude from the New York University School of Law in 1977. He was admitted to the Connecticut Bar in 1978. He is also admitted to the U. S. District of Columbia; the U.S. Supreme Court; the U.S. Court of Appeal's for the Second Circuit; the District of Columbia Circuit; the U.S. District Courts for Connecticut and the District of Columbia.  

Attorney Orr has been a Board Member of Connecticut Legal Services, Inc.(CLS) since 2007. CLS is a private, non-profit civil law firm dedicated to serving low-income families and individuals. He currently sits on the Board of Directors as Chair since 2011, while holding the position of Vice Chair in 2009-2011, and Secretary in 2008-2009. Attorney Orr was involved with the National Institute of Trial Advocacy Faculty, Northeast Regional Program, from summers of 1988-1994; the Hofstra University Law School as faculty in the Trial Techniques Program during the January terms of 1990-1994 and the Widner University Law School as faculty in the Intensive Trial Advocacy Program in 1992. 

Orr resides with his wife Cynthia K. Courtney, Esq. in West Hartford.  They have two children, Andy and Kelly.