Christine Keller

Christine Keller
Senior Justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court
Incumbent
Assumed office March 31, 2022
Associate Justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court
In office July 20, 2020 – March 31, 2022
Appointed by	Ned Lamont
Preceded by	Richard N. Palmer
Succeeded by	Joan K. Alexander
Personal details
Born	Christine Elyse Keller (1952-10-06) October 6, 1952 (age 72)
Spouse	Thomas D. Ritter
Education	Smith College (BA) University of Connecticut (JD)

Christine Elyse Keller[1] (born October 6, 1952)[2][3] is an American lawyer and judge from Connecticut. She is a Senior Justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court.

Education

Keller received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Smith College and her Juris Doctor from the University of Connecticut School of Law.[4][5]

Legal career

She practiced family, personal injury, and real estate law at Neighborhood Legal Services in Hartford, Connecticut, and subsequently worked at the Office of the Corporation Counsel for the City of Hartford and the law firm of Ritter and Keller.[4]

State judicial service

Administrative judge

In 2005, she was appointed Administrative Judge for the Judicial District of Hartford, a position she held until 2007, when she was reappointed a second time as Chief Administrative Judge for Juvenile Matters, a position she held until 2012.[4]

Connecticut Appellate Court

On January 24, 2013, Keller was nominated by Governor Dan Malloy to be a judge of the Appellate Court;[6] the General Assembly approved her nomination on March 6, 2013.[7][4] She succeed Carmen E. Espinosa, who was nominated to the Connecticut Supreme Court. She was a Superior Court Judge, having been appointed by Governor Lowell P. Weicker Jr. in 1993, and a Family Support Magistrate, having been appointed by Governor William A. O’Neill in 1989.[4]

Connecticut Supreme Court

On July 20, 2020, Governor Ned Lamont announced the appointment of Keller to the seat on the Connecticut Supreme Court vacated by Richard N. Palmer who retired on May 27, 2020 after reaching mandatory retirement age 70.[8] In advance of her 70th birthday, she announced on December 28, 2021, that she would take senior status, effective March 31, 2022.[9]

Personal life

Keller is the wife of the lobbyist and former state house speaker Thomas D. Ritter, and the mother of incumbent state house speaker Matthew Ritter.[6]

References

1. University of Connecticut (Class of 1977) Commencement
2. Hubbell, Martindale (March 2001). Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory: Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, U.S. Government Lawyers, Law Schools (Volume 4 - 2001). Martindale-Hubbell. ISBN 9781561604395.
3. United States Public Records, 1970-2009 (Connecticut, 1998-1999)
4. "Biographies of Appellate Court Judges: Judge Christine E. Keller".
5. "Gov. Malloy Nominates Judge Christine Keller to Appellate Court, Names 15 Others to Superior Court". January 24, 2013.
6. Pazniokas, Matt (January 24, 2013). "New class of judges comes with connections". ctmirror.com. Retrieved April 15, 2018.
7. "RESOLUTION CONFIRMING THE NOMINATION OF THE HONORABLE CHRISTINE KELLER OF HARTFORD TO BE A JUDGE OF THE APPELLATE COURT AND A JUDGE OF THE SUPERIOR COURT". January 2013.
8. "Governor Lamont Makes Supreme and Appellate Court Appointments" (Press release). July 20, 2020. Retrieved July 20, 2020.
9. Pazniokas, Mark (March 31, 2022). "Justice Keller takes senior status, allowing Lamont to choose successor". The Connecticut Mirror. Retrieved April 1, 2022.

External links

• Official Biography on State of Connecticut Judicial Branch website
• Christine Keller at Ballotpedia

Legal offices
Preceded by Richard N. Palmer	Associate Justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court 2020–2022	Succeeded by Joan K. Alexander