William Lavery, 67, was appointed a Superior Court judge in 1981. He served as presiding judge in the Danbury Judicial District and chief administrative judge in Waterbury prior to his appointment to the Appellate Court in 1989. In March 2000, retired Chief Justice McDonald appointed Judge Lavery as chief judge of the Appellate Court.

A native of Bridgeport, Judge Lavery graduated from Fairfield Prep in 1955, and in 1959 from Fairfield University with a bachelor of arts degree in economics and philosophy.

After graduating from Fairfield University Judge Lavery served in the armed forces in 1960–1961. Upon his return to civilian life, he attended the Fordham School of Law and was admitted to the Connecticut bar in 1964.

One year earlier Judge Lavery was elected to the Bridgeport Board of Aldermen, where he served until 1967. He was then elected to the state legislature in 1967, serving there until 1971. During his tenure in the House of Representatives, Judge Lavery became chairman of the Legislative Public Health and Safety Committee.

During his 17 years in private practice, Judge Lavery remained active in public and volunteer service.

He worked with the state’s Council on Environmental Quality from 1971 to 1974; on the Commission on Comprehensive Health Planning for the State, 1976–79.; attorney for Housing Authority, City of Bridgeport, 1969–72; counsel to the Majority Party, House of Representatives, 1971–73; and vice chairman, Commission on Hospitals and Health Care, 1976–81.

Judge Lavery also volunteered and served as president of the Bridgeport Mental Health Association and president of the Newtown Scholarship Committee; as vice chairman of the Newtown Charter Commission, 1974–75; as town and borough attorney of Newtown, 1976–81; and as vice president of the Connecticut Judges Association, 1991–92.

He was elected president of the Connecticut Judges Association, where he remained in service from 1992 to 1993. Judge Lavery was an active trustee of the C. H. Booth Library in Newtown from 1991 to 2002 and is currently the president of the library’s board of directors.

He also served as director of the Pope John Paul II Health Care Center and Aids Project Greater Danbury; as co-chair of the Legal Internship Committee; as a member of the Judicial Evaluation Committee; and was appointed by Governor William O’Neil to the position of Superior Court Judge where he served from 1981 to 1989.

He became judge of the Connecticut Appellate Court on October 4, 1989, and served as co-chair to the Advisory Committee on Appellate Rules from 2002 to present. He was most recently named Chief Appellate Judge on March 12, 2000.