Martin taps Emmett as Stamford legal chief

Stamford Mayor-elect David Martin made his first cabinet-level appointment Thursday, naming Kathryn Emmett director of legal affairs.

Emmett accepted the post in a sun-splashed Stamford Government Center press conference. She, like the new mayor, assumes official duties Dec. 1. The transition has already begun with the transfer of information and cases to her supervision.

“I can”™t tell you what a great honor and privilege this is,” she said, standing beside Martin at the lectern. “I could not be more honored or more humble.” She called the city”™s legal challenges “exciting and a challenge.”

Emmett”™s extensive resume features Harvard undergraduate and Yale Law School degrees. In 1989 she was a founder of the law firm Emmett & Glander. She was a visiting scholar at Yale Law School and served as a judge of the Connecticut Superior Court, 1982-1988. She is a litigator and served as president of the Connecticut Trial Lawyers Association. Her trial victories are both important and numerous.

Her current local duties include treasurer of the Board of the Stamford Downtown Special Services District and board member of the Ferguson Library.