Sean McElligott

Sean McElligott is an experienced litigator with emphasis on complex litigation, class action and civil rights cases. He has successfully represented plaintiffs in many high profile lawsuits in both federal and state courts across the nation.

Sean specializes in cases involving complex legal questions and the vindication of plaintiffs’ rights at both the trial and appellate level. Some of his representative matters include a class action establishing the rights of patients to receive accurate information from a hospital; a medical malpractice action involving the rights of same sex couples to the loss of consortium remedy; a premises liability action requiring landlords to lease safe premises to vulnerable tenants; and cases involving the rights of injured persons to receive compensation from negligent physicians and manufacturers of defective products.

Sean also maintains and active civil rights and pro bono practice through the Civil Pro Bono Panel of the United States District Court and the Connecticut Pro Bono Network. Sean tried a recent pro bono civil rights case to verdict in federal court on behalf of a Connecticut citizen who was beaten by the police. He has also successfully represented the families of mentally ill inmates who died in the custody of the Connecticut Department of Correction. Sean currently represents the Guardians Black Police Officers Association against the Bridgeport Police Department in the longest-running employment discrimination case in Connecticut.

Sean has appeared frequently before federal appellate courts and authored numerous appellate and amicus briefs. Sean recently submitted an amicus brief on behalf of members of the United States Congress in a case seeking tougher environmental accountability for international corporations.

Sean received a Commitment to Justice Award for extraordinary pro bono service from inMotion, an organization that provides free legal services to low-income women and children, in 2004. In 2009, Sean was selected as a Connecticut Rising Star in the areas of class actions and mass torts by the Super Lawyers Magazine.

Sean graduated from Yale Law School and Trinity College.

Sean is an active member of the American Association for Justice, the Connecticut Trial Lawyers Association, and the Bridgeport and New Haven County Bar Associations. He was admitted to the Massachusetts Bar in 2001 and the New York Bar in 2003; the U.S. District Court, District of Massachusetts, in 2002; U.S. District Court, Southern and Eastern Districts of New York, 2004; and, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in 2004. He was admitted to Connecticut and United States District Court for the District of Connecticut in 2006.