(HARTFORD, January 21, 2014)--Day Pitney partner and veteran appellate lawyer Allan Taylor has been appointed by the Hartford City Council to serve as its first Legislative and Legal Advisor. The city council created the position in order to provide independent legal advice to the council and to enhance its legislative and policy resources. Mr. Taylor has retired from Day Pitney to assume this full-time position with the City after practicing law at the firm for his entire career.

"We are very proud of Allan's appointment. It is a recognition of his long history of public service to the City of Hartford and the state of Connecticut and his stellar achievements as a lawyer," said Day Pitney managing partner Stanley A. Twardy, Jr.

Hartford City Council President Shawn T. Wooden, also a partner at Day Pitney, said: "Allan is uniquely qualified for this position as he has an extensive history of serving Hartford as a former member of the local school board, city council and chair of the city's Charter Revision Commission. The combination of superb legal skills along with a passion for public policy make Allan the right person for this newly created role."

"I am looking forward to this new opportunity, and I'm honored to be given this chance to serve the city of Hartford once more," Mr. Taylor said. "I am sad to leave Day Pitney, where I spent all of my 36 years as a lawyer, but I know that I'll be leaving my practice in the hands of a new generation of talented appellate lawyers."

A graduate of Harvard Law School and former law clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, Mr. Taylor has built his legal career representing clients at the trial and appellate level on matters involving complex questions of law, with an emphasis on issues of insurance coverage (for the insurer) and regulated industries. He has briefed and argued appeals in the First, Second, Eleventh and D.C. Circuits, as well as in state appellate courts in Connecticut, Florida, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and Rhode Island. Mr. Taylor also served as judicial clerk to Judge J. Skelly Wright, U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, 1975-1976.

In addition to his law practice, Mr. Taylor was elected to the Hartford City Council from 1981-87, served as chairman of the Housing Committee and the Planning, Development and Zoning Committee, and served as City representative to the Capital Region Council of Governments. He also was elected to the Hartford Board of Education from 1989-1993 and served as chairman of the budget committee and as vice president and president of the Board. In addition, he is currently serving as Chairman of the Connecticut State Board of Education.

Mr. Taylor is the most recent addition to a long line of Day Pitney lawyers who have served Connecticut in myriad ways both in and out of government. Day Pitney lawyers who have served in government include partners Stanley Twardy (former United States Attorney for Connecticut and Chief of Staff to Connecticut Governor Lowell Weicker) and Sam Caligiuri (former State Senator, 16^th District, and Acting Mayor of Waterbury). Several former Day Pitney partners have gone on to serve in the judiciary, including former partner and current United States District Judge Michael P. Shea. Many partners have also served Connecticut through their service on behalf of various not for profit organizations, including Paul Belval (Chairman, Greater Hartford Legal Aid Foundation), David T. Doot (Director, Journey Home) and James Sicilian (former Chair, United Way of Central and Northeastern Connecticut).

About Day Pitney
Day Pitney LLP is a full-service law firm with close to 300 attorneys in New Jersey, Connecticut, New York, Boston and Washington, DC. The firm offers clients strong corporate and litigation practices, with experience on behalf of large national and international corporations as well as emerging- and middle-market companies and individuals.