Alan Harris Nevas (born March 27, 1928) is a former

United States district judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the United States federal judiciary, U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each United States federal judicial district, federal judicial district, which each cover o ...

of the

United States District Court for the District of Connecticut The United States District Court for the District of Connecticut (in case citations, D. Conn.) is the federal district court whose jurisdiction is the state of Connecticut. The court has offices in Bridgeport, Hartford, and New Haven. Appeals ...

Education and career

Born in Norwalk,

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

, Nevas received an

Artium Baccalaureus Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree from

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

in 1949. He received a

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

from

New York University School of Law New York University School of Law (NYU Law) is the law school of New York University, a private research university in New York City. Established in 1835, it is the oldest law school in New York City and the oldest surviving law school in New ...

in 1951. He was in private practice of law in Westport, Connecticut from 1951 to 1952. He was in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

as a Sergeant First Class from 1952 to 1954. He was in private practice of law in Westport from 1954 to 1981. He was a member of the

Connecticut House of Representatives The Connecticut State House of Representatives is the lower house in the Connecticut General Assembly, the state legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The house is composed of 151 members representing an ...

from 1971 to 1977 and was a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

. He was a Justice of the Peace in Westport from 1976 to 1981. He was the

United States Attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal c ...

for the District of Connecticut from 1981 to 1985.

Federal judicial service

Nevas was nominated by President

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

on September 9, 1985, to the

, to a new seat created by 98 Stat. 333. He was confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

on October 16, 1985, and received commission on October 17, 1985. He assumed

senior status Senior status is a form of semi-retirement for United States federal judges. To qualify, a judge in the Federal judiciary of the United States, federal court system must be at least 65 years old, and the sum of the judge's age and years of servi ...

on March 27, 1997, and retired on February 2, 2009.

Post judicial service

Following his retirement from the federal bench, Nevas became special counsel to Levett Rockwood P.C., a corporate law firm in Westport. Upon Levett Rockwood's combination with Verrill Dana, a leading New England regional law firm, in 2015, he became Senior Counsel to Verrill, where he continues to practice, primarily as an arbitrator and mediator. During his tenure at Levett Rockwood, Nevas was appointed by former Governor

Jodi Rell Mary Carolyn "Jodi" Rell (née Reavis; born June 16, 1946) is an American former Republican politician and the 87th governor of Connecticut from 2004 until 2011. Rell also served as the state's 105th lieutenant governor of Connecticut. Rell was C ...

to chair the state's investigation into the causes of the deadly February 7, 2010 explosion at the Kleen Energy power plant in Middletown, Connecticut, and to chair the committee that allocated $7.7 million in funds to families impacted by the December 14, 2012

Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting The Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting occurred on December 14, 2012, in Newtown, Connecticut, United States, when 20-year-old Adam Lanza shot and killed 26 people. Twenty of the victims were children between six and seven years old, and t ...

in Newtown, Connecticut.

References

Sources

* , - , - , - 1928 births Living people Judges of the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut Republican Party members of the Connecticut House of Representatives New York University School of Law alumni People from Norwalk, Connecticut Military personnel from Connecticut Syracuse University alumni United States Attorneys for the District of Connecticut United States district court judges appointed by Ronald Reagan 20th-century American judges {{US-federal-judge-stub