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8 ¦ DECEMBER 21, 2020 NEWS

¦ From IN MEMORIAM on PAGE 7 come tenants, David Pels died
While Macgill was best known July 5 following a long illness.
for his tenure as dean, former He was 71.
students said he was a dynamic Pels spent his entire 45-year ca-
professor with a knack for engag- reer as an attorney representing
ing would-be attorneys. He also Connecticut lost tenants, including 22 years with
taught constitutional law and legal 15 attorneys, judges and the Greater Hartford Legal Aid.

history, among other classes. or other members of the He retired in July 2019.
Macgill joined the university law community in 2020, Those who knew Pels said he
faculty in 1971 and taught until he including Hartford Superior represented tens of thousands of
became dean 19 yeas later. Court Judge Kevin Dubay. clients over the course of his ca-
reer.
Christopher McCormack
Longtime environmental attor-
ney Christopher McCormack died Stephen Ronai
Regarded as the “godfather of
of a heart attack in early May. He health care law in Connecticut,”
was 63. longtime Murtha Cullina partner
Those who knew McCormack Stephen Ronai died April 30 after
said the attorney had two careers: He was an attor- a long illness. He was 83.
ney for three decades and an acclaimed viola player Ronai’s colleagues said he was known as a men-
with the Norwalk Symphony. tor to younger attorneys and was his firm’s go-to
Friends said McCormack also developed the idea attorney when the subject was health care laws and
of partner mentors at Big Law’s Pullman & Comley, regulations.
where he spent the last 15 years of his life as partner. “Stephen’s legacy is going to be the development of
the health care and long-term care practice here and
John Merchant
Remembered as a trailblazer, longtime Bridge- statewide,” said Murtha Cullina partner Al Smith Jr.
port attorney John Merchant died March 5. He was Lee Sawyer
87. Lee Sawyer, Connecticut attorney and chief of
Friends and colleagues said Merchant broke many staff to Connecticut Department of Energy and En-
barriers. vironmental Protection, died suddenly Oct. 31. He
In 1958, Merchant became the first black student was 38.
to graduate from the University of Virginia Law A former newspaper reporter, those who knew
School. He was also one of the few black criminal- Sawyer said he always had an interest in the envi-
defense attorneys in the Bridgeport area in the 1960s ronment and environmental law.
and 1970s. He also rose quickly through the ranks of the
agency, where he went from director of legislation
John Naizby
A personal injury attorney for 27 years, John and policy to director of planning for materials
Naizby died of cancer July 14. He was 53. management to chief of staff to Katie Dykes in Au-
Known as a compassionate plaintiffs personal gust 2019.
injury attorney and an avid outdoorsman, Naizby Ed Schmidt
once ran three Ironman races in one year. Known as a consummate professional who
Early in his career, Naizby worked as a lawyer for worked well with both Democrats and Republicans
Allstate Insurance, representing insurers in personal when he was both deputy counsel and then counsel
injury matters. He’d later go on to represent injured to the state of the Connecticut House of Representa-
parties. tives, Ed Schmidt died Nov. 28. He was 70.
Schmidt worked as of counsel for Curtis, Brinck-
David Pels
Considered a zealous advocate for low-in- erhoff & Barrett in Stamford for the last 14 years of

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