Richard A. Robinson (born December 10, 1957) is an American lawyer who is a former member of the

Connecticut Supreme Court The Connecticut Supreme Court, formerly known as the Connecticut Supreme Court of Errors, is the supreme court, highest court in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It consists of a Chief Justice and six Associate Justices. The seven justices sit i ...

. He served as chief justice from 2018 to 2024, and as an associate justice of the court from 2013 to 2018.

Life and career

Robinson was born in

Stamford, Connecticut Stamford () is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States, outside of New York City. It is the sixth-most populous city in New England. Stamford is also the largest city in the Western Connecticut Planning Region, Connecticut, Weste ...

. He received a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

from the

University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university system with its main campus in Storrs, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1881 as the Storrs Agricultural School, named after two benefactors. In 1893, ...

in 1979 and a

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

from the West Virginia University College of Law in 1984. He was staff counsel for the City of Stamford Law Department from 1985 to 1988, when he became assistant corporation counsel in Stamford.Connecticut Supreme Court biography of Richard A. Robinson
In 2000, Robinson was appointed to the

Connecticut Superior Court The Connecticut Superior Court is the state trial court of general jurisdiction. It hears all matters other than those of original jurisdiction of the Probate Court, and hears appeals from the Probate Court. The Superior Court has 13 judicial dis ...

, serving until his appointment to the

Connecticut Appellate Court The Connecticut Appellate Court is the court of first appeals for all cases arising from the Connecticut Superior Courts. Its creation in 1983 required Connecticut's voters and legislature to amend the state's constitution A constitution i ...

on December 10, 2007. He was appointed to the

on December 19, 2013. In November 2017, the Chief Justice Chase T. Rogers announced that she would retire in February 2018. Governor

Dannel Malloy Dannel Patrick Malloy (; born July 21, 1955) is an American politician who served as the 88th governor of Connecticut from 2011 to 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he chaired the Democratic Governors Association from 2016 to 2017. In Ju ...

nominated Justice Andrew J. McDonald to be the next chief justice, but his nomination was rejected by the

Connecticut Senate The Connecticut State Senate is the upper house of the Connecticut General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The state senate comprises 36 members, each representing a district with around 99,280 inhabitants. Se ...

. In April 2018, Governor Malloy nominated Robinson to be chief justice of Connecticut. Robinson was sworn in as chief justice on June 18, 2018. He is the first African-American chief justice in Connecticut's history. On May 21, 2024, Chief Justice Robinson announced that he intended to retire from his role as Chief Justice in September. He retired from active service on September 6, 2024.

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Robinson, Richard A. 1957 births Living people 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century African-American lawyers 21st-century American judges 21st-century African-American lawyers African-American judges Chief justices of the Connecticut Supreme Court Connecticut lawyers Justices of the Connecticut Supreme Court Politicians from Stamford, Connecticut University of Connecticut alumni West Virginia University College of Law alumni

Life and career

See also

References