Published on January 02, 2025

Cody Guarnieri ’09 nominated as Connecticut Superior Court judge

Cody Guarnieri ’09 was nominated by Gov. Ned Lamont this past spring to serve as a judge on the Connecticut Superior Court. Among this year’s class of 22 nominees, Guarnieri, 37, is the youngest judge nominated to the court.

Guarnieri previously spent 12 years as a trial attorney and partner at Brown, Paindiris & Scott, LLP in Hartford and Glastonbury. “I have a lot of experience in the litigation process,” he said. “I was involved for many years in advocating for clients’ interests, usually individuals and small businesses.”

Speaking to his role on the superior court, Guarnieri said, “I’m in a position, thanks to Gov. Lamont and his team, to play the role of ensuring that there’s a fair process that litigants are entitled to. Having used the (litigation) process on behalf of clients for many years gives me a good perspective on how the process should and is supposed to work.”

Guarnieri laid the groundwork for his understanding of the litigation process as a student at Eastern, where he double majored in history/social science and political science, and later at the University of Connecticut School of Law.

“My time at Eastern was about foundations,” he said. “It was about building that liberal arts education you can get from a small institution like Eastern, where you get individualized attention from professors to develop a foundational educational background on these topics.”

Speaking of his Eastern education, Guarnieri said, “The most important (skills) for me in law school, for me as a lawyer and for me as a judge, are critical thinking and reading things with a critical eye ... When you put the time and effort in, there’s the opportunity to really develop (those skills) at a school like Eastern.”

Guarnieri offers words of encouragement to students. “I have seen and met Eastern alumni as lawyers and in every aspect of my career,” he said. “No one should feel limited if they go to a state school, especially Eastern, where there are such fantastic opportunities to carve your own path.”

Written by Noel Teter '24