For business owners, it”™s not difficult to find a good lawyer in Fairfield County ”“ and any attempt to single one out is bound to omit dozens of noteworthy attorneys. Still, the attorneys listed on this page have represented Fairfield County clients as well as any in the past few years, in practices ranging from corporate law to trusts and estates.
David Albin ”“ Finn Dixon & Herling
David Albin is listed first on the attorney list at Finn Dixon & Herling L.L.P. The same may hold true outside the Stamford firm”™s walls when it comes to corporate law, at least in the eyes of “Best Lawyers,” which listed him as Fairfield County “lawyer of the year” in that practice (Albin”™s colleague Michael Herling won the accolade as well in securities and capital markets law).
Albin focuses on mergers and acquisitions, private equity, venture capital, securities law and general representation.
He has chaired the business law section of the Connecticut Bar Association and is an active member of the American Bar Association”™s mergers and acquisitions committee.
Albin is a graduate ofTrinityCollegeandYaleLawSchool.
Peter Mott ”“ Brody Wilkinson
In a particularly active year for trust and estate planning, Peter Mott focuses on the practice as an attorney in the Westport office of Brody Wilkinson P.C., having been past chair of the Connecticut Bar Association”™s estates and probate section. He is a fellow in theAmericanCollegeof Trust and Estate Counsel and a member of its committee on professional responsibility.
Mott attended Trinity College and the University of Connecticut School of Law, where he was editor of the Connecticut Law Review. Among his outside interests, he is a board member of the Fairfield County Community Foundation.
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Steve Nevas ”“ Nevas, Nevas, Capasse & Gerard
They don”™t call it the First Amendment for nothing ”“ freedom of expression is the bedrock of American society, and in Connecticut, Steve Nevas is among those most familiar with that foundation.
A partner in the Westport firm Nevas, Nevas, Capasse & Gerard, he”™s among Connecticut”™s foremost experts in media law, with his practice also covering intellectual property issues and segueing into food industry issues and children”™s education, among other areas.
It is First Amendment law where Nevas is best known, however, having taught the topic at American University, served as counsel the National Association of Broadcasters and National Public Radio, and worked as a law correspondent for CNN and NBC News.
Nevas is a 1960 graduate of theUniversityofConnecticutandNortheasternUniversityLawSchool, and attended the Annenberg School of Communication at theUniversityofSouthern California.
Dan Schwartz ”“ Day Pitney
Dan Schwartz chairs Day Pitney L.L.C.”™s labor and employment practice at the firm”™s Stamford office, handling everything from discrimination to non-compete agreements. He also represents investment companies in litigation and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority arbitration, and is on the firm”™s social media task force.
Schwartz holds degrees fromPrincetonUniversityand the Boalt Hall School of Law at theUniversityofCaliforniaatBerkeley.
Austin Wolf ”“ Cohen and Wolf
Cohen and Wolf P.C. co-founder Austin Wolf received the Connecticut Bar Association”™s first-ever lifetime achievement for planning and zoning law ”“ enough said. Wolf started the firm with Herbert Cohen in 1951 after graduating from Yale University and Harvard Law School and serving in the U.S. Marine Corps during World War II.
“It”™s fascinating,” Wolf told the Connecticut Law Tribune of his career in planning and zoning law. “You have the ability to influence the development of a community. You have a hand in what happens in the town where you live or where you practice.”
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Jack Zeldes ”“ Zeldes, Needle & Cooper
If listed last on most any alphabetical list of lawyers (including this one), Jack Zeldes is at the top of most rolodexes ”“ including those of lawyers themselves.
WhenConnecticutattorneys needed a lead plaintiff to sue former Gov. M. Jodi Rell to stop a $2 million transfer from a “client security” fund for the law industry, they turned to Zeldes. Call the Zeldes, Needle & Cooper P.C. founder a lawyer”™s lawyer.
The Bridgeport firm is marking its 40th year in Bridgeport, as Zeldes continues to receive recognition from his peers, most recently as the “lawyer of the year” for white-collar criminal defense in the newest edition of Best Lawyers.
