West Hartford, CT - Paul Bedard of Southington has received the 2023 Glenn E. Knierim Pro Bono Award, presented by the Office of the Probate Court Administrator and the judges of the Connecticut Probate Assembly, at their annual meeting on April 19.

Attorney Bedard has served as Assistant Town Attorney for the Town of Southington, CT, as well as a member of the Southington Zoning Board of Appeals and the Board of the Central Connecticut Regional Planning Agency. Bedard also serves on the advisory board for STEPS (Southington Town-wide Effort to Promote Success), a non-profit coalition dedicated to preventing substance abuse in the community. Attorney Bedard is a solo practitioner at The Law Office of Paul Bedard, LLC, in Southington.

“He spends a significant amount of time serving indigent individuals and as an attorney and conservator in many of courts,” said Connecticut Probate Assembly President Judge Evelyn M. Daly. “He is a dedicated professional with compassion especially with those less fortunate.” Judge Daly added that Bedard takes on difficult court appointments often knowing he’ll never be paid.

Attorney Bedard said he is humbled and honored to receive the award, but noted that there are many equally deserving attorneys out there doing what he does. “Ultimately, all of us are just trying to serve the needs of our individuals in the Probate Court system,” he noted. “We really do have a system that I think serves those individuals who need that support day in and day out.”

Connecticut’s 54 Probate Courts and six Regional Children’s Probate Courts assist thousands of low-income seniors to age in place in their own homes; supervise the care and finances of individuals who cannot care for themselves; support individuals with mental health conditions to live in the community instead of being institutionalized; and help thousands of children stay in familiar surroundings with family and friend guardians rather than being placed in foster care. Probate Courts save taxpayers more than $2.1 billion each year by avoiding more costly state services.

Since 2012, the Glenn E. Knierim Pro Bono Award is given annually by the Probate Assembly to recognize the exemplary pro bono service given by an attorney in the Probate Court system. It is named to honor the late Judge Glenn E. Knierim, who was Connecticut’s longest-serving probate court administrator (1973-1989). He was also Simsbury’s probate judge for 32 years. As probate court administrator, Judge Knierim worked to improve adoption and guardianship laws, created the first Code of Probate Judicial Conduct and set mandatory educational requirements for probate judges. 

For more information about Connecticut’s Probate Courts, visit ctprobate.gov.