Academy Member Inducted 2014

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Hon. Jonathan E. Silbert, Mediator & Arbitrator, New Haven, Connecticut.

Hon. Jonathan E. Silbert

Garrison, Levin-Epstein, Fitzgerald & Pirrotti, P.C.
405 Orange Street
New Haven, CT 06511
Tel: (203) 777-4425
Fax: (203) 776-3965
Website: www.garrisonlaw.com
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Recognized to Connecticut Chapter for Mediation & Arbitration Other ADR Services: ADR Training/CME, Court-Appointed Neutral (Special Master), Early Neutral Evaluation, Insurance Umpire, Mini-Trial Judge
Video Conferencing
Available
  • Practice Commenced2001
  • # of MEDS (as of 8/12/24)1500
  • # of ARBS (as of 8/12/24)100
Current Practice
Online / In-Person

Biographical

Judge Silbert retired as a Judge of the Connecticut Superior Court in 2012 and immediately rejoined his former law firm as "Of Counsel" with a practice devoted exclusively to Mediation and Arbitration.  More than half of his 21 years on the bench had been spent as Presiding Civil Judge in New Haven, a position whose principal task was helping lawyers and their clients find ways of resolving their cases amicably.  From this experience was born a commitment to the fair and expeditious resolution of civil cases without trial.   That commitment has been formally recognized by the Bar in several ways, including the Connecticut Trial Lawyers Association Judiciary Award (2001);  the Connecticut Bar Association's   Henry J. Naruk Judiciary Award (2003); the Hon. Robert A. Zampano Award for Excellence in Mediation (2005); the Connecticut Chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates' Professionalism and Civility Award (2010); and the New Haven County Bar Association's Civility Award (2013).

Judge Silbert has earned a reputation for his dispute resolution skills not only in his home state but internationally as well.   He has lectured on mediation in Connecticut and also  in the Russian Federation, Nicaragua and Ecuador.

Judge Silbert 's experience also includes three years as a legal services attorney and seventeen years in private practice. He has served on the faculties of Yale Law School and the University of New Haven. For more than a dozen years, he acted as a consultant to the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation’s Justice Program, specializing in issues relating to sentencing and alternatives to incarceration.


Judge Silbert served as Vice-Chairman of the Guilford Board of Education prior to being nominated to the Superior Court bench in 1991 by Governor Lowell P. Weicker, Jr. Over the course of a 21-year judicial career, he served in courthouses in New London, Norwich, Willimantic, Meriden, Middletown and New Haven, presiding over civil, criminal, and juvenile matters

In November of 2012, after 21 years as a judge, he returned to Garrison, Levin-Epstein, Fitzgerald and Pirrotti, P.C., the successor of the law firm of which he had been a co-founding partner in 1977.


Case Experience

  • ADA Disability
  • Business Dissolution
  • Civil Rights
  • Class Actions
  • Commercial/Business
  • Construction
  • Contract Disputes
  • Discrimination
  • Education
  • Employment
  • Insurance
  • Legal Malpractice
  • Medical Malpractice
  • Personal Injury
  • Premises Liability
  • Product Liability
  • Professional Liability
  • Professional Malpractice
  • Professional Negligence
  • Property Damage
  • Sexual Harassment
  • Torts
  • Wrongful Death

Education

  • Harvard Law School, Cambridge, Massachusetts: J.D., 1968
  • Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire: A.B. cum laude, 1965; Phi Beta Kappa, Senior Fellow
  • Warsaw University, Warsaw, Poland Summer, 1966
  • London School of Economics and Political Science: Autumn-Winter, 1964
  • Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana: Summer, 1964

Memberships & Affiliations

  • Connecticut Bar Association (1969-present)
  • James W. Cooper Sustaining Life Fellow, Connecticut Bar Foundation (2001-present)
  • Mediators Beyond Borders, Member (2012-2014)
  • Russian-American Rule of Law Consortium, Treasurer (2002-2012)
  • Connecticut-Pskov Rule of Law Partnership, Chair (2001-present)
  • Connecticut Judges Association (1991-2012)
  • New Haven County Bar Association (1996-present; Executive Committee Member, 2002-2011; 2014-present)
  • New Haven Inn of Court (1999-2013; President, 2003-2005)
  • Recognized in The Best Lawyers® in America 2023 for work in Arbitration


Rates Information

Full day $4500.00 1/2 day $2500 shared by the parties.

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