Professor Pottenger Receives Tapping Reeve Legal Educator Award

Professor J.L. Pottenger Jr. ’75 received the Tapping Reeve Legal Educator Award on April 20 at the “Celebrate with the Stars” awards ceremony hosted by the Connecticut Bar Association.

Pottenger is the Nathan Baker Clinical Professor of Law at Yale Law School, where he leads the Housing Clinic. His subjects include housing and community development, mortgage foreclosure litigation, legislative advocacy, prison legal services, trial practice, landlord/tenant law, and professional responsibility.

“This is a wonderful honor for an extraordinary career and a moment for all of us to celebrate our beloved colleague,” said Dean Heather K. Gerken.

Established in 2012, the Tapping Reeve Legal Educator Award is presented to a member of the Connecticut Bar Association who has made significant contributions and a commitment to the cause of legal education and is considered a legal educator of the highest quality as a teacher, scholarly writer, or both.

Tapping Reeve (1744–1823) was an American lawyer, educator, and jurist and is recognized for establishing one of the country’s earliest formal law schools in Litchfield, Connecticut. Founded in 1784, Litchfield School of Law provided the first comprehensive vocational curriculum for lawyers in the United States.

Another Yale Law School graduate was also recognized by the Connecticut Bar Association at the event.

Sara Bronin ’06, a Professor of the Cornell College of Architecture, Art, and Planning, received the Citizen of the Law Award. The award is given to a judge, attorney, or paralegal who has made a significant contribution to a charitable or public service cause that does not involve professional legal skills, but provides inspiration and contributes to the needy, the good of society, the environment, or our way of life.

The Connecticut Bar Association, founded in 1875, is the preeminent organization for lawyers and the legal profession in Connecticut. With more than 70 sections and committees, the CBA produces over 400 programs each year, including the Connecticut Legal Conference. The CBA is a nonprofit member service organization dedicated to advancing the legal profession and the principles of law and justice.