Keith Bradoc "Brad" Gallant
– Partner
Professional Experience
Brad Gallant, a partner in the Individual Clients Department, is resident in the firm's New Haven office. His practice includes trust and estate planning and administration, special needs planning, planning for same-sex couples and their families, planning for incapacity, and probate litigation.
Brad is the President-elect of the Connecticut Bar Association and chairs the CBA's Legislation Review Committee. He is a past chair of the CBA's Estates & Probate Section, serves on the executive committee of the CBA's Elder Law Section, and is a member of the CBA's Animal Law Committee. Brad was elected a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC) in 1993. He chairs the ACTEC Elder Law Committee and serves on ACTEC's Fiduciary Litigation and Asset Protection Committees. Brad is a life fellow of the Connecticut Bar Foundation and, since 1989, has been a member of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA). Since 2006, Brad has been designated by Worth magazine as one of the top 100 lawyers in the United States serving individual clients. In 2006 he was named one of "the top ten" of all Connecticut lawyers by
Connecticut Magazine.
Brad has spoken at the annual meetings of NAELA, ACTEC and the American Bar Association (ABA), as well as at seminars sponsored by ALI-ABA, NYU Institute of Federal Taxation, the CBA, the Connecticut Trial Lawyers Association (CTLA), the Connecticut Probate Assembly, and other groups. Brad has spoken on special needs trusts, long-term care insurance, probate litigation, the disposition of interests in Trust incident to divorce and ethical issues in estate planning at seminars around the United States. Most recently (April, 2010) Brad was a speaker at the Texas Bar Association's "Advanced Estate Planning Strategies" program in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Brad has litigated a variety of matters in probate and appellate courts, including lost wills, paternity disputes, will and trust constructions, charitable trust deviations, contested conservatorships and accountings, and undue influence cases. He has appeared on behalf of clients in more than 80 probate courts as well as numerous Connecticut and federal trial and appellate courts. He was lead counsel for the
amicus curiae in the landmark Connecticut Supreme Court case,
Department of Social Services v. Saunders. Brad is consulted regularly by trial counsel and testifies as an expert in trusts and estates disputes, in dissolution of marriage actions and in disabilities litigation. He also has extensive experience in alternative dispute resolution of probate controversies.
Brad's interest in disabilities planning has led him to volunteer with numerous organizations that provide services to persons with special needs. In 1994 the Connecticut Probate Courts recognized his advocacy on behalf of persons with disabilities by naming him "Citizen of the Year". He is Vice President of the Board of Directors of the Center for Medicare Advocacy, a national organization serving Medicare recipients. Brad completed four terms as President of the New Haven Free Public Library Board of Trustees in 2009. In 2009 - 2010, he chaired the CBA Pro Bono Committee.
Brad received a B.A. with Honors, and an M.A. from Cambridge University, England, where he was a member of Pembroke College. He received a J.D.,
cum laude, from the University of Connecticut School of Law and an LL.M. from the University of London. Brad lives in New Haven with his wife, Professor Joanna Waley-Cohen; their children, Isabel and Kit; and a beagle, Samantha.
News, Publications & Presentations |
- Featured, "Trusts and Estates Partner Keith Bradoc Gallant Named President-Elect of the Connecticut Bar Association," Day Pitney Press Release, August 17, 2010
- Featured, "Seventy-six Day Pitney Lawyers Named to Best Lawyers for 2011," Day Pitney Press Release, August 9, 2010
- Speaker, "Transactional Considerations in Creation and Succession of FLPs and Other T&E Entities," Texas Bar Association, April 8-9, 2010
- Quoted, "A Year of Questions," Connecticut Law Tribune, December 14, 2009
- Featured, "Focusing on Opportunities to Give Back," Connecticut Law Tribune, November 2, 2009
- Featured, "Fifty-Six Day Pitney Partners Recognized as New England Super Lawyers," Day Pitney Press Release, October 30, 2009
- Featured, "Seventy Seven Day Pitney Partners Named to Best Lawyers 2010," Day Pitney Press Release, July 30, 2009
- Featured, "Day Pitney Partner Named New Vice President of Connecticut Bar Association," Day Pitney Press Release, June 9, 2009
- Quoted, "Adult Adoption a High-Stakes Means to an Inheritance," New York Times, May 20, 2009
- Featured, "Day Pitney's Keith Bradoc Gallant Named Among Worth Magazine's Top 100 Attorneys," Day Pitney Press Release, February 11, 2009
- University of London, LL.M., 1979
- Pembroke College, University of Cambridge, M.A., 1979
- University of Connecticut School of Law, J.D., cum laude, 1978
- Pembroke College, University of Cambridge, B.A., 1975
- Recognized as a Connecticut Super Lawyer, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010
- Chosen for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America, Elder Law and Trusts and Estates, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011
- Listed in Worth magazine as one of the 100 Top U.S. Attorneys representing individual clients since 2006
- Listed by Connecticut Magazine as one of the Top 10 lawyers in all practice areas in Connecticut in 2006