Campbell D. Barrett

Campbell represents clients in complex, high-income, high-net worth cases across Connecticut.  He handles all aspects of family law, including asset division, alimony, child custody, child support, appeals, prenuptial agreements and postnuptial agreements.  He chairs the Family Law and Appellate Practice groups - both of which have been named "Department of the Year" by the Connecticut Law Tribune.  He has acted as lead counsel on more than sixty appeals to the Connecticut Supreme and Appellate Courts, including many important cases of first impression.

Campbell is a fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, and is currently the President of the Connecticut Chapter.  He has been named a Top 50 Connecticut Super Lawyer and a Top 100 New England Super Lawyer multiple times.  He was also named "Family Lawyer of the Year" by Best Lawyers for 2018 and 2020.  In 2005, he received the Judge Maxwell Heiman Award by the Hartford County Bar Association.

He has lectured and written extensively on family and appellate practice, and has been a guest family law expert on National Public Radio.  He is the co-author of the book, Same Sex Marriage:  the Legal and Psychological Evolution in America, which in 2006 was awarded the American Psychological Association's "Most Distinguished Book in Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Psychology."  He has also authored chapters in family law treatises on the definition of property and prenuptial agreements.

Contact Info

Professional Affiliations

American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers - fellow; president, Connecticut Chapter of AAML

Connecticut Bar Association - former statewide chair of the Young Lawyer's Section Family Law Committee (2000-2004)

Hartford Bar Association - co-chair, Family Law Section

Oliver Ellsworth Inn of Court - Barrister - 2000 - 2003

Special Master in State Court

Hartford's Early Intervention Program - special master - 2007 - present

Community Involvement

Children's Law Center - board of directors (2009-2011)

Honors & Recognitions

Listed in The Best Lawyers in America in the area of Family Law since 2017

Selected to the Connecticut Super Lawyers list in Family Law and Appellate since 2010; named a Top New England Super Lawyer in 2016

Named one of the Top Ten Family Law Lawyers in Connecticut by the National Academy of Family Law Attorneys - 2014

Recipient of the Connecticut Law Tribune's "New Leader of Law" award - 2002

Selected as a James W. Cooper Fellow by the Connecticut Bar Foundation - 2004

Judge Maxwell Heiman Award by the Hartford County Bar Association - 2005

Named Hartford Lawyer of the Year in the "Family Law" category in 2020 by The Best Lawyers in America 

Campbell has successfully argued numerous matrimonial law cases of first impression in the Connecticut Supreme and Appellate Courts, including those establishing:

• The operative definition of property for the equitable distribution of assets.  Mickey v. Mickey, 292 Conn. 597 (2009).
• The recognition of postnuptial agreements in the state.  Bedrick v. Bedrick, 300 Conn. 691 (2011).
• The parameters for child support in high income cases.  Dowling v. Szymczak, 309 Conn. 390 (2013).
• The permissible use of capital gains in alimony modification cases.  Gay v. Gay, 266 Conn. 641 (2003).
• The legal test for the modification of alimony based on a claim of cohabitation.  Gervais v. Gervais, 91 Conn. App. 840 (2005).
• The award of significant lump sum alimony ($7.5 million) in cases where a prenuptial agreement limits or precludes the distribution of assets.  Hornung v.Hornung, 323 Conn. 144 (2016).
• The distinction between the modification standard for child support and alimony in cases where the payor has experienced an increase in income. McKeon v. Lennon, 321 Conn. 323 (2016).
• The recognition that complex executive compensation awards, such as stock options and restricted stock, constitute income for purpose of calculating child support. McKeon v. Lennon, 321 Conn. 323 (2016).

News

Speaking Engagements

Publications