Joette Katz Co-Authors Law.com Remembrance of Connecticut's Ellen Ash Peters

The tributes to Chief Justice Ellen Ash Peters, who passed away on April 17, 2024 at the age of 94, are accumulating quickly and for good reason. Her extraordinary life was full of groundbreaking accomplishments, from being one of just a handful of women in her class at Yale Law School (class of ’54), to becoming the first female tenured professor at Yale Law School in 1964, to becoming the first woman on the Connecticut Supreme Court in 1978 and then its first female Chief Justice in 1984.

Chief Justice Peters pursued her love of the law despite the many obstacles she faced, and she maintained the highest regard and respect for the role the law plays in promoting justice in our community. As chief justice for 12 years, she took seriously the court’s development of a coherent body of jurisprudence under state law, including the state Constitution and its obligation to deliver rulings in a manner accessible to the public.

Chief Justice Peters was much more, however, than the sum of her professional accomplishments and accolades. Her dedication to serving as a mentor to so many, her recognition that we all are the products of our life experiences, her gratitude for everyday joys, her wide range of interests outside the law—these qualities truly distinguished Chief Justice Peters for those who were privileged to work closely with her.

In her role as mentor, she encouraged others to pursue their interests and to strive for excellence. She showed unflagging support for the professional pursuits of those whom she mentored, whether those pursuits were in private practice or public service or other arenas, and she was generous with her time and insights. She was keenly aware of the priority that family matters held, and she regularly asked about children, spouses, siblings and parents, and shared stories of her own family. In her farewell letter to one clerk at the end of his clerkship, Chief Justice Peters wrote: “I wish you all the best in your professional as well as your personal life. Both count.”

As dedicated as Chief Justice Peters was to the law, she also enjoyed a host of other interests. An avid reader, she carried on lively conversations about everything from baseball to art, and she perceptively sought to identify topics of conversation that would resonate with those with whom she spoke. She seemed to feel energized by the sharing of diverse points of view among people of different backgrounds, experiences and ages. She was open to learning something new in every setting.

This is not to say Chief Justice Peters could not be intimidating, especially for someone not properly prepared, or that she suffered fools lightly. She demanded respect for herself, her colleagues and the institution we served. And when her famous black purse came out, you knew it was time to wrap up.

The immediate job in any matter was to decide the case before the court and the dispositive issue at hand. One former clerk reminded us of his favorite quote: “Write the opinion in language that the loser can understand. The winner will be happy and won’t care.” But she also understood the role that case could play in the development of the law and the future of Connecticut jurisprudence, and the delicate balance between writing what needed to be said to decide the issue at hand, what could be written to set the table and what should be left for another day. Chief Justice Peters recognized the shared responsibility amongst the three co-equal branches of government and when and how to send an invitation.

There will still be many tributes to Chief Justice Peters, enough to fill an encyclopedia, a reflection of the many lives she touched and the role she played. May her memory be a blessing.

Copyright 2024. ALM Global, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Originally published by Connecticut Law Tribune and Law.com [https://www.law.com/ctlawtribune/2024/04/22/personal-remembrance-of-an-icon-connecticuts-ellen-ash-peters/], reprinted by permission.