Quinnipiac University Alumni
Quinnipiac University Alumni

Alumni Networks

Law Alumni Association

Dozens of Quinnipiac Law alumni sit in the Ceremonial Courtroom during an alumni awards ceremony

Alumni Networks

Law Alumni Association

The Quinnipiac Law Alumni Association offers benefits for graduates of the School of Law such as networking opportunities, career services, mentorship programs and events that help alumni stay connected and engaged with the law school community. Being an active part of the association can enhance your professional growth, provide access to exclusive resources and aims to foster a strong sense of community among graduates. We invite you to get involved in the alumni community.

Give Now For the Ambitious Update Your Info

Call for Nominations: Law Alumni Awards

2024 Law Alumni Association Award Winners

Nominations Due by October 9, 2025

Dear Law Alumni,

The Quinnipiac Law Alumni Association is having its alumni awards ceremony at the School of Law on November 13, 2025 (please mark your calendar). These awards are a celebration of our law school’s achievements.

We invite you to nominate fellow alumni for the following awards:

  • President’s Award: This award is given by the QUSL Alumni Association President in consultation with the Dean of the School of Law to recognize an alum who has exemplified the University’s motto, “Qui transtulit sustinet” (he who transplants, sustains).  This person has dedicated themselves to enriching and sustaining the legal community as a whole and has worked to enhance the reputation of the legal profession within the greater community.  This person may be a philanthropist, scholar or political office holder, or someone who has used their position in the legal community to enhance the legal profession in a measurable way.

  • Inclusive Excellence: This award is given to an alum to acknowledge and celebrate exemplary leadership and commitment to advancing the School of Law’s mission to promote inclusive excellence in the legal profession.  This person raises industry awareness of the importance and value of the legal profession being a diverse and inclusive profession, and has had a clear and positive impact promoting this mission.

  • Entrepreneurial Alumni Award: This award recognizes an alum who has demonstrated innovation in the practice of law — whether by building a transformative business, developing creative legal strategies, or influencing legal or business practices in a significant way. 

  • Service to the Community Award: This award is given to an alum who has dedicated a significant portion of their time, and used their legal skillset, to advance justice and provide legal services to low-income, under-privileged or under-represented communities as a significant part of their career.  This person may have dedicated their career to a non-profit pro bono legal services organization or provided pro bono or low bono representation to members of their community in need.

If you would like to nominate someone for any of these awards, please email your nomination to ASwanson@mccarter.com no later than October 9, 2025. The QUSL Alumni Association Executive Committee will submit proposed candidates for each award for consideration by the Alumni Association Executive Board, and will announce the awards shortly before the November 13 reception. 
 
We look forward to receiving your nominations!

Adam Swanson, JD ’08
President, Law Alumni Association 

2024 Law Alumni Association Award Winners

President’s Award – Margaret I. Castinado JD ’98

Margaret is a senior assistant public defender at the Office of the Public Defender in New Haven. She has defended thousands of clients with criminal matters since 1999. She is the 100th President, and first Hispanic person to lead the Connecticut Bar Association previously serving as President-Elect (2022-2023), Vice President (2021-2022), and Treasurer (2020-2021).  

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Award – Prerna Roa JD ’12

Prerna is the founding attorney and principal of Omnia Law, LLC. She assists individuals and small- and medium-sized businesses and nonprofits with litigation, business and real estate transactions, contract negotiations, and regulatory compliance. She also practices personal injury and family law.  She is passionate about volunteering and civic engagement.  

Entrepreneurial Award – Peter Billings JD ’09

Peter is a founding partner of BBB Attorneys & Counselors, which was opened six years ago with the promise of developing the most technologically advanced personal injury practice in the state, if not the country. In addition to implementing AI in day-to-day litigation, Peter developed an automated client communication system that provides proactive updates based on the actual, real-time actions of attorneys and paralegals within the firm.  

Service to the Community Award – Elyssa Williams JD ’09

Elyssa is a Supervising Attorney at The Bronx Defenders, a public defender office in NY focusing on holistic defense, where she has worked for almost 7 years. Over the past decade, Elyssa has dedicated herself to helping indigent, immigrant communities in Connecticut and New York.

Mission Statement

The Quinnipiac School of Law Alumni Association mission is to:

1

Recognize the personal and professional needs of its alumni

2

Encourage public service in furtherance of promoting the welfare of Quinnipiac School of Law Alumni Association and the community at large

4

Create and manage a network of regional volunteers

5

Assist in Quinnipiac School of Law's fundraising efforts

A Message from the President of the Law Alumni Association

Adam Swanson, JD '08, speaks with a microphone at a podium in the School of Law atrium

Adam Swanson, JD ’08

Dear fellow alumni:

I am honored to be President of the Quinnipiac University School of Law Alumni Association.  I hope you will join me and our board members as we work to grow this very special community.  The practice of law is at times isolating, but here, as a member of our Quinnipiac law alumni community, you will always be at home and add value to your professional practice.

Please join us throughout the year as we work to strengthen our alumni community.  We each benefitted from the excellent education we received at Quinnipiac and the connections we made as students.  Our connection as a community did not end at graduation—it was just the beginning.  As a member of the Quinnipiac law alumni community you can enrich the bonds you forged as a student and create new connections and opportunities. 

We have several meetings throughout the year where we collaborate with the law school faculty to develop new ideas and to learn about the law school’s initiatives.  You are welcome to join these meetings either virtually or in-person.  We also host several social networking events throughout the year in communities where alumni are located where you can reconnect with former classmates or make new connections within our growing law alumni community.  To keep yourself informed of all law school alumni events, please share your email address and phone number with the Law Development and Alumni Affairs office.

Above all, I want to make the Quinnipiac University School of Law Alumni Association more meaningful for you, for the law students, and for the law school.  I invite you to please email me at ASwanson@mccarter.com if you have ideas for programming, if you have comments, or if you just want to say hello.  

I am grateful to serve you and to lead this great Quinnipiac law alumni community.  I look forward to hearing from you and to seeing you soon! 

Adam Swanson, JD '08
President, Law Alumni Association

Quinnipiac Today

Law Alumni Association Executive Board

President: Adam M. Swanson, JD ’08

Adam represents major financial institutions in disputes brought by consumers, including those concerning consumer mortgage lending and servicing and consumer credit, as well as major title companies in real property, land title, and title insurance litigation.

His experience in the consumer mortgage lending and servicing sectors includes handling legal challenges concerning agency and non-agency mortgages, large mortgage portfolios, and residential mortgage-backed securities products. Adam represents all the major players in the consumer mortgage lending and servicing space in the full range of claims arising from origination, servicing, default servicing, foreclosure, bankruptcy, evictions as well as concerning real estate owned properties.

Adam’s extensive experience resolving real property matters includes those concerning deeds, easements, ownership disputes, land titles, and real property acquisitions. Because of his deep understanding of the consumer mortgage sector, Adam is regularly retained by the nation’s largest title insurers to provide them with efficient and cost-effective solutions to their most complex real property disputes.

Passionate about giving back to the community, Adam serves on the Board of Directors of Connecticut Legal Services, Connecticut’s largest legal aid agency. Adam also serves on the Board of Directors for the Fairfield County Bar Association.

Adam has been an active member of the School of Law Alumni Association for many years and is very pleased to be nominated to serve as President.

 

Vice President: Andrew Knott, JD ’03

Andrew graduated from the School of Law in 2003 and has been practicing since then with his father John Knott. QUSL alumnus Rpbert Robert J. Santoro, (QUSL ’75) is also a partner of the firm.  The practice focuses on all aspects of probate, trust, estate, and elder law, including bioethics, special needs, and elder abuse and exploitation.

Andrew is also an experienced neutral, serving as a magistrate for the superior court and claims commissioner hearing small claims and claims against the state, as well as deciding matters for several arbitration panels.  He lives locally with his wife and two children.

Andrew has been a QU Law Alumni board member for over a decade and has employed a number of Quinnipiac School of Law graduates.

 

Secretary/Treasurer: Kelly Petter, JD ’11

Kelly is a partner at Gerber Ciano Kelly Brady LLP in Hartford, where she focuses her practice on complex insurance coverage and defense matters ranging from pre-suit investigation, coverage and liability analysis through litigation and trial. Kelly is often selected to represent large institutional clients in high-stakes litigation involving declaratory judgment, breach of contract, bad faith and class action matters. She recently advised a national carrier regarding its nationwide response to a high volume of claims involving emerging medical and scientific data, and the relevant legal standards associated therewith.

Kelly defends pre-suit and litigation matters involving complex liability and damages defenses. The breadth of Kelly’s practice includes, but is not limited to construction losses, and premises liability, contract dispute, liquor liability, product liability and professional liability matters in state and federal courts across Connecticut and New York. Kelly is regularly asked to serve as pro hac vice counsel across the country in complex coverage and defense matters. She also has experience litigating before the Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities (CHRO).

Kelly has been named a Connecticut Super Lawyers Rising Star from 2018 to 2021. She is a Member of the Board of Directors of the Connecticut Defense Lawyers Association and Chair of the Young Lawyers Committee of the Connecticut Defense Lawyers Association. She is a Member of the Federation of Defense & Corporate Counsel (FDCC), Claims and Litigation Management Alliance (CLM) and Defense Research Institute (DRI), and co-hosts a podcast on Clubhouse called the I ❤ Insurance Club. Kelly regularly presents to trade organizations and insurance companies regarding insurance coverage, extracontractual liability, and defense matters.

  • Rebecca Braunger Mines, JD ’04
  • Michael Chirico, JD ’04
  • Dayna M. Chucta, JD ’19
  • Kevin Curseaden, JD ’97
  • Amy Markham DeCesare, JD ’08
  • Chris Gallager, JD ’05
  • Genna Goldner, JD ’14, CIPP/US, CIPM
  • Marissa Hernandez, JD ’09
  • Anne Iezzi, JD ’03
  • Massimino (Max) Iori, JD ’92
  • Emily Kaas, JD ’16
  • Vincent Merola, JD ’07
  • Cate Merrigan, JD ’16
  • Kathy Mills, JD ’07
  • Chris R. Nelson, JD ’04
  • Sheldon Poole, JD ’16
  • John M. Russo, Jr., JD ’17
  • Sylvia K. Rutkowska, JD '08
  • Edward Sokolnicki ’78, JD ’90
  • Regina Thornton, JD/MBA ’00
  • Leo J. White, JD ’11
  • E.J. Yerzak, JD ‘09
  • Stephen E. Yost, JD ’08
  • Kristen Zaehringer, JD ’05

Take the Next Step