House endorses Clark nomination to Appellate Court

mark Pazniokas :: ctmirror.org

Robert Clark, center, with the governor’s chief of staff, Paul Mounds, left, and counsel Doug Dalena when a legislative committee considering the COVID-19 emergency declaration last year.

The House of Representatives voted unanimously Tuesday to confirm Gov. Ned Lamont’s nomination of his general counsel, Robert Clark, as a judge of the state’s Appellate Court.

Clark, 49, of Durham, briefly served as a Superior Court judge before joining the Lamont administration, playing an integral role in the governor’s issuance of dozens of executive orders during the COVID-19 emergency.

His nomination now goes to the Senate.

In his hearing before the legislature’s Judiciary Committee, Clark said he would recuse himself from any cases involving the executive orders.

Clark graduated cum laude from the University of Connecticut in 1993 with a degree in English. In 1997, he graduated with high honors from the University of Connecticut School of Law, serving as an executive editor on the Connecticut Law Review.

Prior to his appointment to the Superior Court by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, he was an assistant attorney general, ending his tenure there as special counsel to Attorney General George Jepsen.