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William F. Dow III


William F. Dow III 
350 Orange Street
New Haven, Connecticut 06511-6403
 

Phone:
203-772-3100

Fax:
203-772-1691

E-mail:
wdow@jacobslaw.com


Areas of PracticeEducationHonors
AffiliationsRepresentative Cases


Willie Dow was born on Pearl Harbor Day, December 7, 1941, in New Haven and grew up in Stony Creek. Willie graduated from Yale University with a BA Degree in 1963 and then served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Colombia from 1963 to 1965. He became fluent in Spanish and still retains a working knowledge of that language. After The Peace Corps he attended the University of Pennsylvania Law School, graduating in 1968. He received a Reginald Heber Smith Fellowship and worked for two years with legal services programs in Florida and Washington, D.C. From 1970 to 1974 Willie was an attorney with the Public Defender Service in the District of Columbia . He returned to Connecticut as an Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut in 1974 and served in that position until August of 1976 when he joined the firm.

Willie is widely considered one of Connecticut 's most experienced and effective criminal lawyers. His principal focus is criminal and white collar defense in both state and federal courts. He has represented clients in cases ranging from homicide and crimes of violence, drug offenses and theft, to sophisticated white collar litigation. He has defended individuals and organizations in the trial courts and has argued appeals in the Connecticut Supreme and Appellate Courts and the Federal Courts of Appeals in the Second, Third and District of Colombia Circuits.

Willie has been a Lecturer in Trial Practice at the Yale Law School for more than 30 years. For the last ten years he has co-taught a course on Forensic Science at the Quinnipiac University Law School with Drs. Henry Lee and Elaine Pagliaro. He is a fellow of the America College of Trial Lawyers. He has previously been appointed by the Governor to the Judicial Selection Committee and serves a member of the Connecticut Judicial Branch Criminal Division Task Force. He been Chair of the Executive Committee of the Section for the Administrative Criminal Justice of the Connecticut Bar Association and served for two terms as President of the Connecticut Criminal Defense Lawyers Association. He has also served on the Drafting Committee of the Evidence Code adopted by the Judges of the Superior Court. He is a member of the Executive Committee of the Federal Practice Section of the Connecticut Bar Association. He has been appointed by the Chief Justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court to the Client Security Fund on which he presently serves. For the past 20 years he has co-chaired the annual Criminal Litigation Seminar sponsored by the Connecticut Trial Lawyers Association.

For more than fifteen years Willie has been included in the Best Lawyers in America . Since 2006 he has been recognized by Connecticut Magazine as a "Super Lawyer" and in 2008 and 2009 was voted by his peers as the top attorney in Connecticut .

Among his clients is the former Governor of the State of Connecticut whom he represented in impeachment proceedings before the Connecticut State Legislature and in a federal criminal prosecution; numerous attorneys, judges and physicians in disciplinary proceedings; and a number of companies and organizations that have been the target of state and federal investigations.

Willie has also represented a number of college students. Most recently he secured an acquittal on a charge of Sexual Assault before a jury in Superior Court in New Haven ; prevailed on two additional Sexual Assault claims before an administrative bodies at a local university; and secured a dismissal on a highly-publicized flag burning incident. He obtained a new trial for a teacher accused of Risk of Injury due to computer pop-ups in a case that received national media attention.

In addition to a trial and teaching practice he is the author of a regular column for the New Haven County Bar Association publication, Marble Columns.

Visit  Willie Dow on Criminal Law  on our website

Areas of Practice:
85% Criminal Law
5% Administrative Law
5% Professional Responsibility
5% Miscellaneous
Litigation Percentage:
95% of Practice Devoted to Litigation
Bar Admissions:
Florida, 1968
Connecticut, 1969
District of Columbia, 1969
U.S. District Court District of Connecticut, 1974
U.S. District Court District of Vermont, 1995
U.S. District Court Middle District of Florida, 1969
U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia, 1969
U.S. Court of Appeals District of Columbia Circuit, 1970
U.S. Court of Appeals 2nd Circuit, 1975
U.S. Court of Appeals 3rd Circuit, 1977
U.S. Supreme Court, 1981
Education:
University of Pennsylvania Law School, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1968
LL.B.


Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, 1963
B.A.
Major:  Political Science


Representative Cases:
Clisham v. Board of Police Commissioners, 223 Conn. 354, 613 A.2d 254 (  1992)
State of Connecticut v. Morrissey, 216 Conn. 185, 577 A.2d 1060 (  1990)
United States v. Dennis, 843 F. 2d 652 (2d Cir. 1988)
Tsokalas v. Purtill, 756 F. Supp. 89 (D. Conn. 1991)
Rauccio v. Frank, 750 F. Supp. 566 (D. Conn. 1990)
State of Connecticut v. Milum, 197 Conn. 602, 500 A.2d 555 (  1985)
Williams v. Warden, Federal Correctional Institution, Danbury, Connecticut, 470 F. Supp. 1123 (D. Conn. 1979)
Classes/Seminars Taught:
Criminal Practice Seminar, Connecticut Trial Lawyers Association, 1980 - Present


Tutor in Law, Yale Law School, 1976 - Present


Miscellaneous Seminars, Connecticut Trial Lawyers Association & Connecticut Bar Association


Adjunct Faculty, Quinnipiac University Law School, 1999 - Present


Honors and Awards:
Fellow, American College of Trial Lawyers


Fellow, American Board of Criminal Lawyers


Charter Fellow, Connecticut Bar Foundation


Listed in The Best Lawyers in America in the Areas of White Collar and Non-White Collar Criminal Defense Representation


Listed in Superlawyers for Connecticut


Professional Associations and Memberships:
American Bar Association
Member


Connecticut Trial Lawyers Association
Member


Connecticut Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, 1990 - 1992
President


National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
Member


Federal Bar Council
Member


Connecticut Bar Association
Member, Federal Judiciary Committee


Superior Court Criminal Division Task Force, 1993 - Present
Member


Judicial Selection Committee, 1993 - 1998
Member


Second Circuit Committee on Admissions and Grievances, 1983 - 1993
Member


Reappointment of Federal Public Defender for the District of Connecticut, 2000
Chair, Merit Review Panel


Task Force on Post-Verdict Interviews of Juries, 1996
Member


New Haven County Bar Association, 1999 - Present
Member, Executive Committee


New Haven County Bar Association, 1990 - Present
Member, Committee for Development Opportunities for Minority Lawyers


New Haven County Bar Association, 1994 - Present
Member, Continuing Legal Education Committee


Connecticut Bar Association, 1989 - 1991
Secretary, Executive Committee


Connecticut Bar Association, 1992 - 1994
Chair, Executive Committee


Connecticut Bar Association, Section for Administration of Criminal Justice, 1991
Member


Connecticut Bar Association, 1979
Co-Chairman, Trial Advocacy Seminar Program Committee


Connecticut Bar Association, 1981
Secretary, Special Committee on Certification of Specialists


Connecticut Bar Association, 1991 - Present
Member, Court Rules Advisory Committee


Connecticut Bar Association, 1991 - 1994
Member, Committee on Liaison with State Courts


Connecticut Bar Association, Federal Practice Section, 1988 - Present
Member


Connecticut Bar Association, 1995 - Present
Member, Executive Committee


Connecticut Bar Association
Chair, Criminal Practice Subcommittee; Awards Committee


The District of Columbia Bar, 1972
Member, Committee for Revision of Criminal Jury Instructions for D.C.


Past Employment Positions:
Office of the US Attorney for the District of Connecticut, Assistant US Attorney, 1974 - 1976


Public Defender for the District of Columbia, Staff Attorney, 1970 - 1974


Public Defender Services Commission, Chair, 1992 - 1994


Public Defender Service of the District of Columbia, Trial Attorney, 1970 - 1973


Public Defender Service of the District of Columbia, Chief, Juvenile Division, 1973 - 1974


Connecticut Law Review Commission, Member, Evidence Code Drafting Committee, 1995 - 1998


Languages:
Spanish
Birth Information:
December 7, 1941, New Haven, Connecticut
William Dow
Contact William Dow by phone at
(203) 772-3100 or by e-mail at wdow@jacobslaw.com.

Dow On Criminal Practice In New Haven

Because many of our clients have commitments during the week, the firm is open for client meetings on Saturday mornings.
We conveniently serve clients in New Haven, Bridgeport, Meriden, and throughout the State of Connecticut.

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