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Address
200 Court Street
Middletown, Connecticut 06457 (Middlesex Co.)
Average Client Review Rating
Rating not available
Average Peer Review Rating
4.6
out of 5
(Main Office) The firm is a general practice law firm. To best serve clients, each member of the firm strives to be especially knowledgeable in one or more areas of the law. The firm prides itself on the quality of its work, its personnel, and the attention given to clients' needs. The firm encourages the professional development of its principals, associates, and paralegals through continuing legal education, seminars, professional association membership, and participation in civic affairs. Each of the lawyers and paralegals in the firm has developed and maintains specific areas of legal concentration. The firm's major legal practice areas are litigation, commercial and real estate law, corporate and business law, probate law, estate planning and administration, and land use regulatory and environmental law. The firm maintains two fully staffed offices, one in Middletown, which serves northern Middlesex County, and the New Haven and Hartford areas, and one in Old Saybrook, which serves the southern portion of Middlesex County and the shoreline area, including New London, Waterford, Old Lyme and Madison. Statement of PracticeGeneral Practice. Litigation in all Courts, Residential Real Estate, Commercial Real Estate, Zoning and Land Use, Corporate, Estate Planning, Elder Law, Probate Law, Personal Injury Litigation, Municipal Law. Year Established: 1964
Firm Size: 7
Representative Clients:Associations and Non-Profit Organizations: Middlesex Hospital
The Children's Home of Cromwell, Inc.
Mercy High School
Grove Beach Point Association
The Connection, Inc.
Lower Connecticut River Association of Realtors. Banking: Counsel or Approved Counsel for: Liberty Bank
Citizens Savings Bank
Shawmut Mortgage Company
Sanborn Corporation
People's Bank
Chemical Residential Mortgage Corporation and First Federal Bank, FSB
Maritime Bank and Trust Company. Business: Westbrook Concrete Block Company, Inc.
T.F. Melia Associates, Inc.
Richard Riggio & Sons, Inc. Insurance: Connecticut Attorneys Title Insurance Company
Fidelity National Title Insurance Company
Chicago Title Insurance Company
First American Title Insurance Company. Municipal: Town of Essex
Essex Planning Commission
Old Lyme Zoning Commission
Old Lyme Zoning Board of Appeals
Chester Planning and Zoning Commission
Deep River Zoning Board of Appeals
Middletown Transit District. Professional: Donald S. Brodeur & Company
CPAs
Angus McDonald/Gary Sharpe & Associates, Inc.
Civil Engineers and Land Surveyors. Real Estate: Hill Development Corporation
Daybreak Corporation
Real Estate Service of Conn., Inc.
Tuttle Road Associates
Atlantis Building Co., Inc.
B. Nicolo Carpentry, Inc.
Old Farms Associates.
Address200 Court Street
Middletown, CT 06457, (Middlesex Co.)
PhonePhone: 860-638-5400
Fax: 860-638-5410
Website
http://www.dpapc.com
Firm/Affiliate OfficesOld Saybrook, Connecticut Office: 15 Elm Street, 06475. Telephone: 860-345-6340. Fax: 860-345-6344.
Robert P. Dutcher (Partner) born Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, January 22, 1950; admitted to bar, 1975, Connecticut. Education: Wesleyan University (B.A., 1971); Georgetown University (J.D., 1975). Robert P. Dutcher grew up in Philadelphia. He became interested in becoming a lawyer while watching civil and criminal trials in the old Philadelphia City Hall courthouse during a summer job. Mr. Dutcher came to Connecticut to go to Wesleyan University in Middletown. Before going to law school, Mr. Dutcher worked many jobs newspaperboy as a kid, railroad switchman in Milwaukee, factory worker and bartender in Middletown, and others. During law school in the District of Columbia, Bob worked for two years as a part-time criminal investigator for a law firm, working the streets of the toughest neighborhoods, alone and often at night, to develop information to defend the firm's clients from serious criminal charges. Mr. Dutcher is active in the First Congregational Church in Middletown, where he sings bass in the choir, acts in dramatic performances, and has served on boards and committees. Mr. Dutcher also serves as a trustee of Russell Library, the principal public library in Middletown. Professional Accomplishments: For more than 30 years, Mr. Dutcher has represented people involved in all kinds of litigation plaintiff's personal injury cases, criminal defense, commercial cases, and domestic relations litigation. He represents injured victims in personal injury and workers compensation cases. He has handled all kinds of personal injury cases, including: 1. After 9/11, Mr. Dutcher represented the family of a victim killed in the collapse of the Twin Towers, in a successful claim against the Federal Victim's Compensation Fund. 2. Mr. Dutcher successfully tried a six-week wrongful death case to a jury involving the death of a cement truck driver in a bridge collapse. 3. He has successfully represented two widows who claimed that work-related stress caused their husbands' deaths from heart attacks. 4. Mr. Dutcher has handled many uninsured and underinsured motorist claims, including a complex claim involving a teenage girl killed in the back of a pickup truck, which was successfully resolved in favor of the victim's estate after the two insurance companies forced a trial and an appeal which Mr. Dutcher successfully handled. 5. He has handled a wide variety of other injury claims car accidents; motorcycle accidents; bicycle accidents; uninsured and underinsured motorist claims; dog bites; slip and falls; work-related injuries; defective products; medical malpractice; and food poisoning. 6. Mr. Dutcher has also handled complex commercial litigation and estate litigation, including a case involving the probate of a will in a $7 million estate. 7. Mr. Dutcher successfully won a jury verdict following a trial against a bar, for the maximum amount recoverable under the Dram Shop Act. The bar served alcohol to a patron who left the bar and killed Mr. Dutcher's client (her estate) in a head-on collision. The jury found in favor of Mr. Dutcher's client (her estate), and against the bar, even though there were no eyewitnesses in the bar who testified that the patron was visibly intoxicated, and the bartender swore that the patron seemed sober. Mr. Dutcher successfully used the testimony of toxicologists, and eyewitness testimony that the patron appeared drunk at the scene of the collision, as circumstantial evidence that the patron must have been showing signs of intoxication when the bartender served him alcohol earlier in the evening. (The results of these examples are based on the facts and merits of each individual case and may not necessarily mean that the same results may be achieved in your case). Member: Connecticut Bar Association; Connecticut Trial Lawyers Association; Connecticut Trial Advocacy Institute. Practice Areas: Plaintiffs Personal Injury; Workers Compensation; Accidents; Animal Attacks; Automobile Accidents and Injuries; Automobile Negligence; Bicycle Accidents; Boating Accidents; Bodily Injury; Brain Injury; Bus Accidents; Carpal Tunnel Syndrome; Catastrophic Injury; Cumulative Trauma; Dog Bites; Electrical Injury; Head Injury; Motor Vehicle Accidents and Injuries; Motorcycle Accidents; Personal Injury Appeals; Personal Injury Defense; Personal Injury Mediation; Rental Vehicle Litigation; Severe Burns; School Bus Accidents; Repetitive Stress Injury; Slip and Fall; Spinal Injury; Third Party Wrongful Death; Traumatic Brain Injury; Whiplash; Wrongful Death; Unintended Acceleration.Email: Robert P. Dutcher
Gregory M. Harris (Partner) born Mount Vernon, New York, July 23, 1951; admitted to bar, 1976, Connecticut; 1978, U.S. District Court, District of Connecticut. Education: Yale University (B.A., 1972); University of Connecticut (J.D., 1976). GREGORY M. HARRIS was born in Mount Vernon, New York. He was admitted to the Bar of the State of Connecticut in 1976 and the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut in 1978. He obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree from Yale College in 1972 and his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Connecticut School of Law in 1976. He joined the firm in 1977 and became a principal in 1983. In addition to his practice in litigation, real estate, and business transactions, Mr. Harris has been active in civic and charitable work for the Middletown Youth Services Commission, a Middletown Charter Revision Commission, the Middletown Board of Education, St. Agnes Home, Inc., Connecticut Legal Services, Inc., the Russell Library, the Middlesex County Bar Association, Inc., the Middletown Board of Ethics, the Middletown Parking Authority , the Middletown Republican Party, the Middletown Exchange Club, the University of Connecticut Law School Alumni Association, Inc., and St. Pius X Parish. He is an active attorney trial referee for the Connecticut Judicial Department. He and his wife reside in Middletown. Member: Middlesex County (President, 2005-2006) and Connecticut Bar Associations.Email: Gregory M. Harris
D. Jeanne Messick (Partner) born Middletown, Connecticut, October 22, 1953; admitted to bar, 1981, Connecticut. Education: Connecticut College (B.S., 1975); University of Connecticut (J.D., 1981). D. JEANNE MESSICK practices in the areas of wills, trusts, estate planning, elder law, probate and special needs planning. She has spent over twenty (20) years working with clients and their families to achieve their estate preservation objectives. Ms. Messick coordinates her efforts with the client's team of professional advisors, including accountants, financial advisors and health care professionals to meet the sometimes complex challenges that face clients today. She has many years of experience handling probate court proceedings and dealing with Medicaid eligibility issues for couples and single persons concerned with the costs of long term nursing care. Ms. Messick is a member of the Elder Law and Estates and Probate Section of the Connecticut Bar Association and a Member of PLAN of Connecticut, serving special needs families in Connecticut. She is active in local charitable organizations. She is a member of the Middlesex Professional Legacy Advisors, a group of attorneys, accountants, financial planners and trust counsel whose goal is to encourage charitable giving throughout Middlesex County. She is a past President and Director of the Central Connecticut Business and Estate Planning Council. Currently, she is a member of the Philanthropy Council and Corporator of Middlesex Hospital and serves as a Trustee of the Brainard Memorial Library in her hometown of Haddam, Connecticut. Ms Messick joined the firm in 1983 and has been a Principal since 1989. She now serves as the firm's President. She was born in Middletown, Connecticut in 1953 and was admitted to the Bar of the State of Connecticut in 1981. She graduated magna cum laude from Connecticut College in 1975 and attended Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico from 1973 to 1974. She received her law degree from the University of Connecticut in 1981 and is a member of Phi Beta Kappa. Member: Connecticut (Member: Elder Law Section, 1999; Estates and Probate Law, 1983 ) Bar Association. Languages: Spanish. Practice Areas: Elder Law; Estate Planning; Wills; Probate; Real Estate; Limited Liability Company Law; Corporate Law; Estate and Gift Taxation; Probate Administration; Probate Taxation; Ancillary Probate; Living Wills; Successions; Inheritance.Email: D. Jeanne Messick
David M. Royston (Member) born Hartford, Connecticut, March 20, 1939; admitted to bar, 1964, Connecticut. Education: Fairfield University (B.A., 1961); Georgetown University (J.D., 1964). DAVID M. ROYSTON was born in Hartford, Connecticut. He graduated cum laude from Fairfield University in 1961 and obtained his law degree from Georgetown University in 1964. Upon being admitted to the Bar of the State of Connecticut in 1964, he joined the firm as an associate. He became a Principal in 1970. Mr. Royston is a past President of the firm, and continues to serve as a Vice President and Director of the firm. Mr. Royston has resided in Old Saybrook, CT since 1965 and has practiced from the firm's Old Saybrook office continuously since that date. Mr. Royston is a general practitioner who practices in the areas of real estate, business, municipal and land use law. He has been Town Counsel to the Town of Essex since 1973. He also represents the Old Lyme Zoning Board of Appeals, the Chester Planning and Zoning Commission, Deep River Zoning Board of Appeals, and the Clinton Planning and Zoning Commission. In addition to representing municipal clients, Mr. Royston also represents private clients before Old Saybrook land use boards, as well as those of many other towns including Westbrook, Haddam, East Haddam, Killingworth, Durham, Salem and Colchester. These clients include individuals and companies, as well as national firms and franchisees such as CVS Pharmacy, Big Y Supermarkets, Boaters World and Cumberland Farms. Mr. Royston and his wife reside in Old Saybrook and have four grown children. He has been a member of several Old Saybrook Charter Revision Commissions and is a former member and Chairman of the Old Saybrook Democratic Town Committee. Mr. Royston has been selected for inclusion in Connecticut Super lawyers 2007 magazine and New England Super Lawyers 2008 magazine in the Land Use/Zoning Practice Area. For more information on the Super Lawyer selection process, please visit: http://www.superlawyers.com/connecticut/selection_details.html. Member: Middlesex County (President, 1988-1989), Connecticut (Member, Sections on: Real Property; Planning; Zoning) and American Bar Associations. Practice Areas: Land Use; Real Estate; Boundary Disputes; Land Sales; Real Estate Acquisitions; Residential Real Estate Development; Residential Real Estate Sales; Right of Way Easements; Waterfront Development; Zoning, Planning and Land Use; Building and Public Safety Codes; Environmental Land Use; Land Development; Land Use Permitting; Land Use Regulation; Rezoning; Subdivisions; Water Districts; Zoning Law; Zoning Variances.Email: David M. Royston
Jennifer Croteau Zettergren (Member) born New Haven, Connecticut; admitted to bar, 1998, Connecticut. Education: University of Connecticut (B.A., 1995); Quinnipiac University College of Law (J.D., 1998). JENNIFER ZETTERGREN was born in New Haven in 1973 and was admitted to the Bar of the State of Connecticut in 1998. She graduated cum laude from the University of Connecticut in 1995 where she was Vice President of the Student Union Board of Governors. She obtained her law degree, graduating cum laude, from Quinnipiac University School of Law in 1998 where she was Executive Managing Editor of the Quinnipiac Probate Law Journal. Ms. Zettergren's case note, In re Baby Z: Manipulating the Law to Allow Adoption of a Child by the Same Sex Partner of the Biological Parent, was published in the Quinnipiac Probate Law Journal, Volume 11, November 1, 1997. Ms. Zettergren joined the firm in 1997 as a law clerk while still attending law school and was an associate with the firm until August of 2000. She was employed by Robinson & Cole, LLP as a commercial real estate associate from August 2000 until March of 2002 when she returned to the firm. She became a principal of the firm in 2004. She is a member of the Middlesex County Bar Association and the Connecticut Bar Association. She is a member of the Middlesex Hospital Community Council and is active with the Middlefield Children's Center. Ms. Zettergren practices in the areas of commercial and residential real estate, litigation, and estate planning. Ms. Zettergren resides in Durham with her husband and children. Member: Middlesex Bar Association. Practice Areas: Residential Real Estate; Commercial Real Estate; Wills; Condominium Law; Land Sales; Real Estate Acquisitions; Residential Real Estate Development; Right of Way Easements; Residential Real Estate Sales; Commercial Real Estate Acquisitions; Commercial Real Estate Bankruptcy.Email: Jennifer Croteau Zettergren
——————————Katharine Gillespie (Associate) born Erie, Pennsylvania, 1979; admitted to bar, 2006, Connecticut. Education: Quinnipiac University (B.A., 2003; J.D., 2006). KATHARINE S. GILLESPIE was born in Erie, Pennsylvania in 1979 and was admitted to the Bar of the State of Connecticut in 2006. She obtained her Bachelor of Arts degree from Quinnipiac University in 2003. Ms. Gillespie graduated magna cum laude from Quinnipiac University School of Law in 2006 where she earned two Distinguished Academic Achievement awards in the areas Evidence and Environmental Law. She also served as an Associate Editor of the Quinnipiac Probate Law Journal. Ms. Gillespie joined the firm in 2005 as a law clerk while still attending law school and became an associate in 2006. She is a member of the Middlesex County Bar Association and the Connecticut Bar Association. Ms. Gillespie practices in the areas of real estate, probate, elder law, municipal and land use law. She resides in Southington, Connecticut. Member: Middlesex County and Connecticut Bar Associations. Practice Areas: Medicare and Medicaid; Probate; Real Estate; Zoning, Planning and Land Use; Municipal Law.Email: Katharine Gillespie
OF COUNSELAnnMarie Cienava Rocco (Of Counsel) born 1961; admitted to bar, 1995, Connecticut; 1988, Massachusetts. Education: Suffolk University Law School (J.D.). ANNMARIE CIENAVA ROCCO was admitted to practice in the State of Connecticut in 1995. She is also a member of the bar of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts where she was admitted to practice in 1988. She is licensed to practice in all Connecticut and Massachusetts courts. She is a graduate of Suffolk University and Suffolk University Law School in Boston, Massachusetts. Attorney Cienava Rocco's practice is concentrated in the areas of family law, personal injury, probate practice, and commercial and residential real estate transactions. Her family practice includes representation of clients in divorce, custody, child support and restraining order cases. Attorney Cienava Rocco handles all aspects of representation, including court appearances, Special Master's conferences, judicial pre-trial conferences and trial, if necessary and advisable, after consultation with the client. She also offers private mediation services in divorce and custody cases to help parties try to avoid the expense and emotional difficulties associates with litigating such cases in court. She is a member of the Family Law Section of the Connecticut Bar Association. Attorney Cienava Rocco's personal injury practice includes representation of plaintiffs in automobile accidents, uninsured and underinsured motorist claims, slip and fall, product liability and other types of negligent and intentional torts. She is a member of the Connecticut Trial Lawyers' Association. Her probate practice includes the preparation of wills and trusts, powers of attorney, living wills and appointment of health care representatives; administration of decedent's and conservatorship estates; and representation of clients before the probate courts throughout the state. Attorney Cienava Rocco's real estate practice includes representation of buyers and sellers of residential real estate; representation of banks, financing companies and other lenders. Attorney Cienava Rocco is a member of the Middlesex County Bar Association, past member of the Board of Directors, and past treasurer of the Middlesex County Bar Association (1998-1999), a member of the Board of Trustees for Mercy High School, and a member of the Haddam Historical Society. Member: Middlesex County Bar Association; Connecticut Bar Association. Practice Areas: Family Law; Alimony; Annulment; Divorce; Divorce Mediation; Equitable Distribution; Family Mediation; Legal Separation Agreements; Marital Agreements; Marital Property Distribution; Marital Property Law; Marital Property Settlements; Name Changes; No Fault Divorce; Postnuptial Agreements; Premarital Agreements; Qualified Domestic Relations Orders (QDROs); Restraining Orders; Spousal Support; Uncontested Divorce; Real Estate; Land Sales; Real Estate Acquisitions; Residential Real Estate Development; Residential Real Estate; Residential Real Estate Acquisitions; Personal Injury; Accidents; Automobile Negligence; Bicycle Accidents; Boating Accidents; Bodily Injury; Catastrophic Injury; Dog Bites; Head Injury; Motor Vehicle Accidents and Injuries; Motorcycle Accidents; Plaintiffs Personal Injury; Wrongful Death; Probate; Ancillary Probate; Probate Administration; Wills; Inheritance; Living Wills; Successions.Email: AnnMarie Cienava Rocco
Ratings Methodology
The following firm members have been rated by their peersDisclaimer: No representation is made that the quality of legal services to be performed is greater than the quality of legal services performed by other lawyers. The testimonial or endorsement does not constitute a guarantee, warranty, or prediction regarding the outcome of your legal matter. Any result that the endorsed lawyer or law firm may achieve on behalf of one client in one matter does not necessarily indicate that similar results can be obtained for other clients. Past success cannot be an assurance of future success because each case must be decided on its own merits. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Martindale-Hubbell® does not undertake to develop a Client Review Rating or Peer Review Rating for all firms and/or lawyers. Therefore, the fact that a firm or lawyer has not been reviewed should not be construed as unfavorable. Martindale-Hubbell accepts no responsibility for and will not be liable for the content and accuracy of the individual Reviews and the aggregated Reviews.
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