Campbell D. Barrett

Campbell chairs the Family Law and Appellate Practice groups, both of which have been named "Department of the Year" by the Connecticut Law Tribune.  In 2023, he was named one of the Top 10 lawyers in Connecticut by Super Lawyers. He represents clients in complex, high-income, high-net worth cases across Connecticut and handles all aspects of family law, including asset division, alimony, child custody, child support, appeals, prenuptial agreements and postnuptial agreements.  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 in 2019 served as 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, 2020, 2022 and 2024.  In 2005, he received the Judge Maxwell Heiman Award by the Hartford County Bar Association.  He presently serves on both the Connecticut Bar Examining Committee and the Connecticut Child Support Guideline Commission.

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.

Office

Professional Affiliations

American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers - Fellow; Past President, Connecticut Chapter of AAML

Connecticut Bar Association - appointed by the CBA president as co-chair of the 2022-2023 Limited Scope Representation Committee; former statewide chair of the Young Lawyer's Section Family Law Committee (2000-2004)

Connecticut Bar Examining Committee

Hartford County Bar Association - Family Law Section Co-chair

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

Named a Moffly Media Top Lawyer in Fairfield County, 2021 - Family Law

Listed in The Best Lawyers in America in the area of Family Law since 2017 and Appellate Practice area for 2024

Selected to the Connecticut Super Lawyers list in the area of Family Law since 2010 and Appellate for multiple years since 2010.  Also named on the "Top 50: 2021 Connecticut Super Lawyers" list; 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" by The Best Lawyers in America in the area of family law in 2020, 2022 and 2024

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).

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