In 1982, Kathryn Calibey fulfilled a lifelong dream to become the first member of her extended family to become an attorney. Her desire to help people was the driving force behind her choice to enter the legal field. Prior to attending law school she worked for approximately five years at New Britain Legal Services, which rendered legal assistance to the poor. She began her legal career with RisCassi & Davis with the desire to apply her skills to help those who have been injured.
Over the years at RisCassi & Davis, Kathy has developed a focus in appellate advocacy. She has been involved in more than 30 cases before the state Appellate and Supreme Courts. Her strong analytical and writing skills have contributed to her numerous appellate successes since her precedent-setting first case before the Connecticut Supreme Court in 1986, O'Connor v. O'Connor, which changed the choice of law doctrine in tort cases. Her legal scholarship has been influential in a wide range of appellate issues ranging from interpretation of contracts and statutes to evidentiary issues involving standards and proof applied to a variety of personal injury situations. She has served on the Connecticut Trial Lawyer's Amicus Curiae Committee and has contributed to numerous amicus briefs on issues of widespread concern to injured parties. For many years, she taught at the University of Connecticut School of Law Moot Court Appellate Advocacy Program and since 2005 has been a faculty member of the Connecticut Bar Appellate Advocacy Institute. She is also one of the founding members of the Connecticut Bar Association's Appellate Advocacy Committee.
Kathy's detailed and creative analysis has assisted the firm not only in the appellate arena but also during the preparation and trial stage of many negligence cases involving complex legal issues. She has been selected for inclusion in the 2008 and 2009 editions of the Super Lawyers Magazine.
Kathy has authored numerous legal articles over the years that have appeared in the Connecticut Bar Journal, the Connecticut Trial Lawyers Forum and the Trial Diplomacy Journal. She is currently on the Board of Editors for the Connecticut Bar Journal, where since 1997, she has been a Senior Editor for Civil Litigation.
As an active member of numerous professional organizations, Kathy has donated significant time to assist both the legal and Hartford County community. She has been involved with the Hartford County Bar Association for many years. After serving as a committee chair and a board member, she was elected to the executive board. In April, 2008 Kathy was elected to serve as President during the Association's 225th anniversary year. The Association is comprised of more than 2,200 lawyers and judges and is one of the oldest bar associations in the country, dating back to 1783. Prior to becoming an officer of the Hartford Bar Association, Kathy was a founding Officer and a Past-President of the Hartford County Bar Foundation, a non-profit corporation whose sole purpose is to raise funds to benefit Hartford County's homeless and needy.
Kathy has been appointed to serve as a Special Master for the Connecticut State Superior Court and to serve on the Judicial Civil Jury Instruction Committee, the Standing Committee on Recommendations for Admissions to the Bar and the Civil Division Rules Task Force. She was elected as a Connecticut Bar Foundation James W. Cooper Fellow in 2001 and has served for many years on a committee compiling an Oral History of Connecticut Women in the legal profession and as a State High School Annual Essay Contest Judge.
Kathy received her B.A. in 1975 from University of Connecticut and her law degree, with honors graduating 10th in her class, from Western New England School of Law in 1982. During law school she was an editor of the Western New England Law Review and received the 1982 Benjamin Novak Award for her law review article published in 1981. She also received the Henry Downey Contribution Award and the U.S. Law Week Award. She is admitted to practice before the Connecticut Bar, the Federal District Court for the District of Connecticut, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and the United States Supreme Court.
