Richard S. Cody is a Shareholder who concentrates his practice in the fields of commercial, municipal, environmental and land use law. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Connecticut in 1980 and received his J.D. from the UConn School of Law in 1986. Attorney Cody then attended the Northwestern School of Law in Portland, Oregon, where he received his L.L.M. (Master of Laws) in Environmental and Natural Resources Law. He was admitted to the Connecticut Bar in 1986, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in 1994, and the United States Supreme Court in 2005.
In environmental law, Attorney Cody has successfully worked in Brownfield development, real estate and business transactions, lender liability, regulatory compliance, the Clean Water Act, drinking water quality and natural resources, wetlands, and hazardous waste matters arising under CERCLA (Superfund) and RCRA. He handles administrative appeals and related litigation. He currently serves as Chairman of the Water Pollution Control Authority in Stonington, CT, which owns three POTWs, and for nearly 20 years he has taught an environmental survey course at the University of Connecticut. Attorney Cody has worked on many administrative and Court cases involving the Connecticut Environmental Protection Act, including issues arising from citizen intervention.
For more than 30 years Attorney Cody has represented a wide cross-section of municipalities in the fields of general government, municipal finance, assessment valuation, planning and zoning, wetlands and open space preservation. He has worked on many municipal redevelopment projects, including the reuse of abandoned mills in Eastern and Central Connecticut.
He has argued numerous cases in the Connecticut Appellate Court and Supreme Court, in areas of environmental law, zoning, municipal law, the Freedom of Information Act and the Uniform Administrative and Procedures Act. He successfully argued the Town of Bozrah v. Chmurynski case, which established fourth amendment protections against unreasonable regulatory (zoning) searches. He also argued, twice in the Connecticut Supreme Court, issues involving the valuation of brownfield properties as they are affected by severe environmental conditions. Attorney Cody has litigated numerous municipal charter issues, as well as issues arising in the New England town meeting form of government. These include the Windham Taxpayers Association v. Board of Selectmen case, where the Supreme Court established that reconsideration petitions are a matter of local concern, and the case of Morris v. Congdon, where the Supreme Court reiterated that the age-old petition rights of inhabitants residing in a “town meeting” municipality, under Section 7-1, are effective to require the selectmen to call a special town meeting.
Attorney Cody currently serves as the town attorney for Windham, Canterbury and Sprague, Connecticut. He has also worked extensively with domestic and international businesses, including manufacturing.
