Founding Member & Partner
Jeff has devoted his entire legal career to serving the Connecticut community, advocating and negotiating on behalf of his clients. Jeff has experience you may trust and rely on to successfully navigate through PPT meetings, negotiations, hearings, mediations and trials ranging from classroom to courtroom settings.
Jeff has successfully litigated the highest dyslexia due process case in the history of Connecticut where his client was awarded three years of compensatory education at The Southport School with transportation.
Jeff has also secured the highest autism residential placement settlement in the history of Connecticut for a client that was awarded $3 million dollars for a multi-year residential placement for educational needs.
Jeff’s negotiation ability to separate people from the problem, focus on solutions and interests rather than on positions and base outcomes on objective, measurable criteria is what separates him as a top skilled negotiator, litigator and advocate.
Jeff is the founding member of Forte Law Group and is one of only very few attorneys in Connecticut that has obtained a Certificate in Special Education Advocacy from the Institute of Special Education Advocacy (ISEA) at William & Mary Law School in Williamsburg, Virginia.
Jeff graduated from American University, Washington College of Law where he placed first in his class for trial advocacy and first in his class for best appellate argument at the law school’s mock trial and moot court competitions. Jeff served as Dean’s Fellow for the both Civil & Criminal Mock Trial Programs and was selected to be one of eight student attorneys to serve within the law school’s Third Year Criminal Justice Clinic where he served as a criminal defense attorney for children involved within the juvenile justice system. Throughout college and law school, Jeff worked full-time while pursuing his education full-time. This forged Jeff's relentlessly results-focused approach.
Jeff was recognized on a national level within the National Moot Court Competition where he placed third in the nation for best legal brief. Jeff interned within the Connecticut State’s Attorney Office and the Division of the Public Defender where he worked with children within the juvenile justice system as well as interned at a child correctional facility in Montgomery, Maryland where he represented incarcerated youth during disciplinary proceedings.
Prior to founding Forte Law Group, Jeff worked for two of the largest litigation law firms within the state of Connecticut where he honed his negotiation, litigation and advocacy skills. Jeff has participated in hundreds of pre-trials, mediations and court proceedings relating to individual rights, advocacy and representation. In the corporate in-house setting, Jeff has successfully presented, negotiated and brokered multimillion dollar agreements, all the while taking on various pro bono cases involving children, families and organizations.
Both of Jeff’s parents served as a teacher, college professor and support personnel within the public-school education system for over 50 years. Jeff’s wife is a Doctoral Level Board-Certified Behavior Analyst and Licensed Clinical Social Worker that received her Doctorate Degree in Applied Behavior Analysis and works with children that have special needs with a focus on autism. Coupled with Jeff’s ties to the Connecticut education community, Forte Law Group provides an unparalleled amount of clinical and behavioral consulting connections for your child’s special education needs.
2025
Dyslexia: Screening, Identification, and Support Webinar with S.E.L.F. — September 17, 2025
Special Education Attorney Panelist: 4th Annual Autism Education & Awareness Forum — April 26, 2025
Securing Civil Protection Orders In School Bullying Cases - Connecticut Bar Association — April 24, 2025
Legislative Testimony Opposing Raised Bill 7277 - Connecticut Legislative Office Building — April 21, 2025
Attorney Panelist - Special Education Legal Fund (S.E.L.F.) Resource Fair — March 30, 2025
2024
Divorce & Special Education Webinar with S.E.L.F. — December 4, 2024
Bullying Webinar with S.E.L.F. — May 15, 2024
Mediation & Due Process Webinar with S.E.L.F. — January 17, 2024
2022
The New Connecticut IEP Webinar with S.E.L.F. — December 7, 2022
2019
Independent Educational Evaluations – SPED*NET Wilton — April 30, 2019 @ 10AM
Milestones and Forte Law Group present Connecticut program, Autism Q&A — April 9, 2019 from 6:30–7:30pm
Special Education Child Advocate, Program Series: Ask a Professional in Norwalk, CT. — February 21, 2019 from 5:30–6:30pm
Divorce and Special Education Law: A Primer — February 12, 2019
