Thomas D. "Tom" Ritter

In his diverse practice, Tom Ritter interacts with local and state governments. He is very active in the energy area representing numerous utilities and solar, wind and fuel cell companies. In health care, he represents two hospitals and a pharmaceutical company and is overseeing the regulatory framework for a major for-profit hospital transaction. He also represents municipalities, auto manufacturers, real estate developers, banks, cable, beer and bus companies, as well as a science center, an aquarium and numerous vendors. A full list of Tom’s lobbying clients can be found at the Connecticut Office of State Ethics website: www.ct.gov/ethics.

Tom has lived in Hartford all his life. He attended Amherst College and the University of Connecticut School of Law and was admitted to the Connecticut bar in 1978. Prior to joining Brown Rudnick, he worked as an attorney for the City of Hartford corporation counsel and was in private practice for many years. He represented Hartford in the Connecticut House of Representatives from 1980 to 1998, and served as Speaker of the House for the last six years. He is a past President of the National Speakers’ Association and has been voted a life-long executive committee member of that body. During his legislative career, Tom received numerous honors and awards. He is most proud of his pioneering work in the area of early childhood education and his effort to improve the University of Connecticut through the “UConn 2000” initiative. In addition, all six of his budgets were passed with a bi-partisan vote.

Tom enjoys putting together “game plans” for his clients and works hard to implement them. His relationships with government and elected officials help in the give and take of government relations, but he understands relying on relationships alone is not enough and it can never be a substitute for the hard work that is necessary to achieve positive results.

As the leader of the Brown Rudnick government relations practice in Connecticut, Tom also takes a great deal of pride in the hard-working veteran employees that make up this practice group. They work extremely well together and are able to work closely with members of both political parties. As a lawyer/lobbyist, Tom frequently has been cited in various publications as one of the best on the basis of peer reviews.

He has been recognized by Woodward/White’s The Best Lawyers in America in the area of Government Relations Practice (2007-2015).