Partner Ernie Teitell Receives Lifetime Achievement Award from Connecticut Trial Lawyers Association

Silver Golub & Teitell partner Ernie Teitell, a compassionate advocate for his clients for almost 50 years, has received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Connecticut Trial Lawyers Association.

 

Mr. Teitell joined the firm, then known as Silver, Golub & Sandak, in 1978. He became a name partner in 1990, when the firm became Silver Golub & Teitell.

Among his notable cases, Mr. Teitell was lead counsel for Mary Farren, a former Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom attorney who was disabled by an attack by her husband, J. Michael Farren, an attorney in both Bush administrations. A Connecticut jury awarded Mary Farren $28.6 million in civil damages in 2013.

Mr. Teitell also represented the family of 6-year-old Zachary Archer Cohn, who drowned in July 2007 when he became entrapped by suction from a swimming pool drain. The representation led to a substantial settlement that the family used to set up a foundation dedicated to pool safety.

And his advocacy resulted in the creation of the Baxter Rule, a legal doctrine called upon by Connecticut lawyers in every multidefendant medical malpractice action that goes to court.

Accepting the award at the CTLA’s annual meeting on June 16, Mr. Teitell drew attention to what he saw as a decline in civility in the justice system and called on members of the CTLA to teach civility to younger lawyers and law students.

“I see an increase in name calling and a decrease in common courtesy. Such loss of civility causes people in our system of justice to demonize those with different points of view, and I am worried about how this is becoming normalized,” he said.

Mr. Teitell was appointed by Governor Lowell Weicker to chair the Connecticut Public Defender Commission from 1994 to 1995. He served as the president of the Connecticut Trial Lawyers Association from 2005 to 2006. He has served on the Connecticut Bar Association’s Committee on Human Trafficking since 2020.

Presenting the award to Mr. Teitell, Silver Golub & Teitell co-founder Richard Silver said: “What most comes to mind over Ernie’s long career is his caring and compassion for his clients.” Mr. Silver received the CTLA’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2003.

Mr. Teitell has been an Adjunct Professor at Quinnipiac University School of Law for more than 30 years and previously chaired the Dean’s Council. The School of Law awarded him an honorary doctorate in 2003.

Mr. Teitell received the Connecticut Law Tribune’s Publisher’s Award in 2009 for his work to preserve the Client Security Fund, a pool of money to compensate victims of unscrupulous lawyers. He received the Connecticut Law Tribune’s Pro Bono Award in 2004 for his work for the Connecticut families of September 11 victims. The Connecticut Law Tribune has also elected him to its Personal Injury Hall of Fame.

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