The Connecticut Law Tribune is the latest media outlet to laud Cramer & Anderson Partner Daniel E. Casagrande for winning a 2019 Marvin J. Glink Private Practice Local Government Lawyer of the Year from the International Municipal Lawyers Association (IMLA).
See the Law Tribune story:
Playing It Straight: Danbury Municipal Attorney Wins National Award
The Connecticut Law Tribune has honored Attorney Casagrande in the past, giving him its inaugural “Giant Slayer” award in 2018 in part for successful outcomes in cases such as the 1998 Union Carbide appeal of the municipal tax assessment valuation of its Danbury, Conn., headquarters, and the appeal by Dominion Nuclear Connecticut, Inc. of the $1.2 billion valuation of the Millstone Nuclear Power Station in Waterford for tax purposes.
The News-Times of Danbury, the Greater New Milford Spectrum, and Patch are among the media taking note of the award, announced at the end of July. The news was also shared by Fordham University School of Law, from which Attorney Casagrande earned his law degree, cum laude, in 1979.
See the Westfair online Q&A with Attorney Casagrande
“I am very appreciative of the media coverage, notably because it helps to publicize important work being done by the City of Danbury, and challenges, past and present, for other municipalities in the state,” Attorney Casagrande said. “I have been privileged to work on many high-profile issues across the state, and if the Glink Award helps to highlight challenges and opportunities for communities in a way that provides momentum for achieving optimal outcomes, that will be the aspect of the award that makes me most proud.”
Attorney Casagrande plans to collect his Glink Award during a luncheon at IMLA’s 84th Annual Conference, to be held Sept.18 to 22 in Atlanta.
The prestigious award recognizes an attorney in private practice who represents a local government and “exhibits those qualities that made Marvin Glink one of the truly remarkable lawyers working on behalf of public clients,” according to IMLA. The award “seeks to recognize a practitioner who has provided outstanding service to the public and who possesses an exemplary reputation in the legal community, the highest of ethical standards and who is devoted to mentoring young lawyers and educating lawyers in local government law.”
See Our Initial Story on the Glink Award
“I am humbled and honored by this award,” Attorney Casagrande said when informed that he had won. “IMLA is North America’s premier resource for municipal lawyers. My career in representing Connecticut municipalities has been continually enriched by my association with the outstanding practitioners I have met at IMLA’s excellent seminars, as well as the invaluable research tools made available by its devoted staff. I will continue spreading the word that the challenging and rewarding practice of municipal law is without question enhanced by membership in IMLA.”
As part of his distinguished career spanning nearly 40 years, Attorney Casagrande has served as outside Assistant Corporation Counsel to the City of Danbury from 1990 through the present, and he and his Cramer & Anderson Municipal Law colleagues represent the Towns of New Milford, Kent, Cornwall, Bridgewater, Canaan, Sharon, and Washington. Additionally, Attorney Casagrande is an ex-officio member of the Connecticut Association of Municipal Attorneys board, and served as CAMA president from 2011 to 2013.
The Glink Award nomination called for three letters of endorsement, which include one from Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton. “Attorney Casagrande exemplifies an IMLA Honoree in that he has led several litigation efforts that have made Danbury a safer place for all,” the Mayor wrote, adding elsewhere, “Attorney Casagrande is well known and respected in our community He has enthusiastically worked to improve our city’s safety and quality of life ….”
In another letter of endorsement, Les Pinter, Managing Attorney and Deputy Corporation Counsel in Danbury, wrote, “I have had the privilege of knowing and working directly with Dan for over thirty years. Without a shadow of a doubt, I can tell you that he is in the narrowest class of the finest, most skilled, creative, erudite, professional and honorable attorneys in any state, and especially in our field of municipal law here in Connecticut.”
“Dan’s career-long commitment to representing local governments is unparalleled throughout the state of Connecticut in my opinion,” Attorney Robert Avena of Avena & Kepple in Pawcatuck said in the third letter of endorsement.
Attorney Avena brought in Attorney Casagrande when Dominion Nuclear Connecticut, Inc., owner of the Millstone Nuclear Power Station, appealed the town assessor’s $1.2 billion valuation of Millstone for tax purposes. Attorney Casagrande went up against a law firm with more than 400 attorneys in offices from Boston to Washington, D.C., and after a four-year battle and a 24-day bench trial the court preserved 93 percent of the town’s valuation. It’s believed to be the largest assessment appeal litigated in Connecticut. “If the town lost that case, it could have gone bankrupt,” Attorney Casagrande has said.
About Cramer & Anderson
Serving clients from six offices in western Connecticut, Cramer & Anderson has a hometown sensibility, a strong regional presence, and a worldly outlook in Practice Areas extending from Personal Injury and Divorce & Family Law to Immigration, Municipal Law, Land Use Law, Real Estate, Workers’ Comp and much more. The firm’s flagship office is located in a historic structure on the Green in New Milford. Additional offices are located in Danbury, Litchfield, Kent, Washington Depot, and Ridgefield. For more information, see the website at www.crameranderson.com or call the New Milford office at (860) 355-2631.