Day Pitney Partner Elizabeth Alquist Named Connecticut Bar Association's 2022 Ladder Award Recipient

The Connecticut Bar Association has named Elizabeth "Beth" Alquist, an Intellectual Property Partner at Day Pitney LLP in the Hartford office, the winner of its 2022 Ladder Award. Alquist, also chair of the firm's Litigation Department, will be honored at the 2022 Pathways to Leadership for Women Lawyers dinner on March 3 at the Aqua Turf Club in Plantsville, Connecticut.

The Women in the Law Section and Young Lawyers Section's Women in the Law Committee will present the award, which was created to honor a woman attorney who has "left the ladder down" for those women who follow in her footsteps. The award, which was created by the YLS Women in the Law Committee in 2007, recognizes the efforts of women in the profession who understand the importance of mentoring and supporting more junior lawyers and embody this critical concept in their own journeys to success in the profession.

"Within our firm, Beth has been a tireless advocate for our efforts to retain, mentor, and promote female attorneys and attorneys of color," said Day Pitney's Managing Partner Thomas Goldberg. "Since Beth joined the firm's Executive Board two years ago, I have often reached out to her when a difficult issue arises, because she always brings common sense and sound judgment to bear. She is a shining example of someone who not only has shattered the glass ceiling, but has used her success to advance the careers and opportunities for many people."

From her days as a Division I Academic All-American Basketball player to becoming a prominent trial attorney, Alquist has long been a standout on and in the court. She built her practice from scratch in what was a newly formed Intellectual Property group. She represents diverse clients in patent, trademark, copyright, trade secret, noncompetition and technology-related disputes in federal and state courts, as well as before the International Trade Commission, Patent Trial and Appeal Board, and the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board.

Alquist has held a number of leadership positions at Day Pitney, including serving as a member of the firm's 8-person Executive Board and as the first female chair of its Intellectual Property and Technology group. She also co-founded the firm's women's initiative, Women Working Together (WWT®), and is past chair of both the firm's WWT® and Diversity Committees. In these roles, Alquist has been an ardent advocate on behalf of women, including helping to shape the firm's parental leave policy, flextime policy, and ensuring equal pay.

Andraya Pulaski Brunau, Intellectual Property Partner at Day Pitney and close colleague of Alquist, added, "Beth does more than leave the ladder down. She climbs back down, gives you a boost, and then climbs back up with you rung by rung. During the climb, she selflessly gives her time, energy, and political capital. If you get tired, she cheers you on and, if needed, carries you on her back. If a rung breaks, she helps devise a plan to fix it and acts on it. She does not take 'no' for an answer. She will not let you give up. She will not let you fail."

In addition to her distinguished legal career, Alquist has been a longtime proponent of the achievements of women in STEM fields and making those achievements more visible in order to inspire and guide women of all ages and experience. In this effort, for many years, Alquist held a leadership position with the Connecticut Technology Council's Women of Innovation Awards. Alquist also has been a volunteer for Lawyers for Children America, a basketball coach for a West Hartford youth basketball league, an adjunct professor of Patent Litigation at UConn Law, and a member of Quest - Leadership Greater Hartford.

Alquist earned her J.D. with High Honors from the University of Connecticut School of Law and her B.A., magna cum laude, from Mount Saint Mary's College. After law school, she served as law clerk to The Honorable Robert J. Callahan, Connecticut Supreme Court, 1994-1995. Alquist is a member of the International Trademark Association (INTA) and the Judge Janet Bond Arterton American Inn of Court, and is a James F. Coopers Life Fellow, Connecticut Bar Foundation.