Weston Woman Elected To CT Bar Foundation James W. Cooper Fellows Pgm

**News Release Submitted by Connecticut Bar Foundation**

April 8, 2025

The Honorable Tracy Lee Dayton of Weston was elected a 2025 Fellow of the Connecticut Bar Foundation (CBF) James W. Cooper Fellows Program. Fellows are nominated by their peers based on their outstanding service to the profession and larger community and are elected by the CBF Board of Directors. “We are pleased to recognize our new Fellows for their distinguished service to the legal profession, and for their commitment to the principles of equal justice and the rule of law,” said the Honorable Victoria Woodin Chavey, President of the Connecticut Bar Foundation.

The CBF’s mission is to facilitate systemic change that advances civil justice for all, regardless of power or resources, to achieve a more just and equitable society. The James W. Cooper Fellows Program, now in its 30th year, helps further that mission by developing and sponsoring projects and programs to promote a better understanding of the legal profession, the judicial system, and the role of law in society; to explore ways to improve the profession and the administration of justice; and to further the highest ideals of the legal system. Fellows programs tackle topics of timely importance to the legal community, and include several speaker series, symposia, roundtable discussions, mentorships, a high school essay contest, and a Fellowship for recent law school graduates. CBF programming, including the Constance Baker Motley Speaker Series on Racial Inequality, has received national attention. More information about these and other Fellows programs can be found at www.ctbarfdn.org.

Hon. Tracy Lee Dayton is a Superior Court Judge of the State of Connecticut Judicial Branch. Prior to her appointment to the bench, Judge Dayton was a Partner at Levine Lee LLP. She received a B.A. in Psychology from Princeton University in 1992 and a J.D. from U.C. Berkeley School of Law in 1995. She was admitted to the Connecticut bar in 2012; she is also admitted to the California bar (1995).

Judge Dayton has been active in several professional organizations. She is a member of the Connecticut Bar Association and the California Bar Association; a Member of the Criminal Jury Instruction Committee (2022-2027); she’s an Interim Member of the Judicial Review Counsel (2024-until new appointment); and serves on the Family Violence Model Policy Governing Council (2022-2026).

The Fellows consist of lawyers in private practice, U.S. Court of Appeals judges, U.S. District Court judges, Connecticut Supreme, Appellate, and Superior Court judges, corporate counsel, attorneys in non-profit associations and legal services agencies, and government lawyers. The program also includes law school deans, former deans, and professors of law, past and current leadership of the Connecticut Bar Association and other bar associations, and present and former government leaders.

In addition to the work of the Fellows program, the CBF pursues its mission by stewarding funding, volunteers, programming, data, innovation, and collaboration to lead and partner in integrated approaches to improving the administration of civil justice. Specifically, the CBF administers several grant programs that fund the delivery of legal services for Connecticut residents who cannot afford an attorney, including the Interest on Lawyers' Trust Accounts and the Interest on Trust Accounts programs, the Judicial Branch Grants-in-Aid, the Court Fees Grants-in-Aid, and the state’s Right to Counsel program.