Sean Connelly (born August 23, 1958) is an American attorney and former

judge A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. A judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, assesses the credibility an ...

on the

Colorado Court of Appeals The Colorado Court of Appeals (Colo. App.) is the intermediate-level appellate court for the state of Colorado. It was initially established by statute in 1891 and was reestablished in its current form in 1970 by the Colorado General Assembly un ...

. He is a former member of the

U.S. Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United State ...

trial team and the lead appellate prosecutor in the

Oklahoma City bombing The Oklahoma City bombing was a domestic terrorist truck bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States, on April 19, 1995. Perpetrated by two anti-government extremists, Timothy McVeigh and Terry N ...

cases. He was appointed by then Colorado Governor

Bill Ritter August William Ritter Jr. (born September 6, 1956) is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 41st Governor of Colorado from 2007 to 2011. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the district attorney for Denver before his ele ...

to the Colorado Court of Appeals in 2008 and did not seek retention of his appointment in 2011 and returned to private practice.

Early life and education

Connelly received his bachelor's degree from

Fairfield University Fairfield University is a private Jesuit university in Fairfield, Connecticut. It was founded by the Jesuits in 1942. In 2017, the university had about 4,100 full-time undergraduate students and 1,100 graduate students, including full-time ...

in 1980 and his J.D. degree from the

Columbus School of Law The Columbus School of Law, also known as Catholic Law or CUA Law, is the law school of the Catholic University of America, a private Roman Catholic research university in Washington, D.C. More than 400 Juris Doctor students attend Catholic Law ...

The Catholic University of America The Catholic University of America (CUA) is a private university, private Catholic church, Roman Catholic research university in Washington, D.C. It is a pontifical university of the Catholic Church in the United States and the only institution ...

in 1983 where he was a Comments Editor for the

Law Review A law review or law journal is a scholarly journal or publication that focuses on legal issues. A law review is a type of legal periodical. Law reviews are a source of research, imbedded with analyzed and referenced legal topics; they also pro ...

and received the Faculty Award for the highest ranking law student.

Career

Early career

Connelly began his career as a judicial

law clerk A law clerk or a judicial clerk is a person, generally someone who provides direct counsel and assistance to a lawyer or judge by researching issues and drafting legal opinions for cases before the court. Judicial clerks often play significant ...

with the

U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (in case citations, D.C. Cir.) is one of the thirteen United States Courts of Appeals. It has the smallest geographical jurisdiction of any of the U.S. federal appellate cou ...

from 1983 to 1984. He was in private practice from 1984 to 1990 prior to joining the

United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United State ...

U.S. Department of Justice 1990 - 2002

Connelly joined the U.S. Department of Justice in 1990. During his 12 years at Justice, Connelly served as a Special Attorney to

United States Attorney General The United States attorney general (AG) is the head of the United States Department of Justice, and is the chief law enforcement officer of the federal government of the United States. The attorney general serves as the principal advisor to the p ...

John Ashcroft John David Ashcroft (born May 9, 1942) is an American lawyer, lobbyist and former politician who served as the 79th U.S. Attorney General in the George W. Bush administration from 2001 to 2005. A former U.S. Senator from Missouri and the 50th ...

and

Janet Reno Janet Wood Reno (July 21, 1938 – November 7, 2016) was an American lawyer who served as the 78th United States attorney general. She held the position from 1993 to 2001, making her the second-longest serving attorney general, behind only Wi ...

, as Chief of the U.S. Attorney's Office Appellate Section, and as a Criminal Division trial attorney. As Special Attorney to the Attorney General, Connelly was a member of the trial team and was the lead appellate prosecutor in the

cases. Those prosecutions resulted in the separate convictions of

Timothy McVeigh Timothy James McVeigh (April 23, 1968 – June 11, 2001) was an American domestic terrorist responsible for the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing that killed 168 people, 19 of whom were children, injured more than 680 others, and destroyed one-third o ...

and

Terry Nichols Terry Lynn Nichols (born April 1, 1955) is an American domestic terrorist who was convicted of being an accomplice in the Oklahoma City bombing. Prior to his incarceration, he held a variety of short-term jobs, working as a farmer, grain elevato ...

for the April 1995 bombing of the

Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building The Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building was a United States federal government complex located at 200 N.W. 5th Street in downtown Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. On April 19, 1995, at 9:02 a.m. the building was the target of the Oklahoma City bombing ...

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, a ...

, which resulted in 168 deaths.

Reilly Pozner LLP 2002 - 2008

Following his roles at the U.S. Department of Justice, Connelly returned to private practice in 2002 at the law firm of Reilly Pozner LLP (known as Hoffman, Reilly & Pozner at the time). One of his most publicized cases during his time at Reilly Pozner involved the ownership dispute of the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquart ...

between

Pat Bowlen Patrick Dennis Bowlen (February 18, 1944 – June 13, 2019) was a Canadian–American lawyer, executive and the majority owner of the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL), winning three Super Bowls. He was inducted in the Pro Foo ...

and Edgar Kaiser. Kaiser originally sold his share of the team to Bowlen in 1984. Kaiser sued Bowlen in 2004 after Bowlen offered

John Elway John Albert Elway Jr. (born June 28, 1960) is an American professional football executive and former quarterback who is the president of football operations for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL). Elway played college f ...

a 10% share in the team. Kaiser claimed to have first right of refusal for any ownership change and subsequently won judgment against Bowlen for breach of contract. Connelly represented Bowlen during the appeal process, during which the appeals court overturned the original ruling, stating that the deal between Bowlen and Elway did not violate any agreement between Kaiser and Bowlen. Connelly was made partner in the firm in 2002 and was with the firm until 2008 prior to his judicial appointment.

Colorado Court of Appeals 2008 - 2011

Connelly was appointed to the Colorado Court of Appeals by then Governor

in 2008. During his time on the bench, he authored more than 40 published opinions. In July 2010, he announced that he would not seek retention of his appointment and would return to the law firm of Reilly Pozner LLP to oversee the opening of their new law office in Washington D.C.

Awards and recognition

Connelly has received special recognition throughout his career as an attorney and judge. In 2013, he was named Lawyer of the Year for Denver Appellate Practice by The Best Lawyers In America. In 2009, he was voted by Colorado Law Week as Colorado's Outstanding Appeals Court Judge. Connelly also received the Exceptional Service Award (the highest award given by the U.S. Department of Justice) from United States Attorney Janet Reno for his role in the prosecutions of Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols for the Oklahoma City Bombing in 1995.

External links

Attorney profile for Sean Connelly at Connelly Law

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Connelly, Sean Living people Fairfield University alumni Columbus School of Law alumni Colorado lawyers 1958 births Politicians from Glen Cove, New York Colorado Court of Appeals judges