The Board of Directors of Connecticut Legal Services (CLS) is proud to announce that it has named Attorney Anne Louise Blanchard as the new Executive Director of CLS. CLS is a private, not‑for‑profit law firm committed to helping low-income people by providing access to justice. For close to 50 years, CLS has provided free legal assistance to hundreds of thousands of low-incomepeople across a broad range of civil law areas including housing, disability, public benefits, family, immigration, employment, and children at risk.
Attorney Blanchard was selected by the Board of Directors to lead CLS after a broad executive search process and due deliberation. “The CLS Board of Directors conducted an extensive search and chose Anne Louise from an impressive group of candidates. The Board believes that Anne Louise is the best person to move CLS forward in the next phase of its critically important work,” says CLS’ Board Chair Helen Harris, who also chaired a nine-member Search Committee, adding that “Anne Louise has the skills and talent to foster the agency’s growth while maintaining its core mission with efficiency and effectiveness.”
Attorney Blanchard has served at CLS for more than 35 years, and as CLS’ Deputy Director for the past seven years. She was CLS’ first female Litigation and Advocacy Director and held a variety of other roles within the agency, including Managing Attorney of CLS’ Children at Risk Unit, Managing Attorney of CLS’ Willimantic Office, and Regional Director of the Eastern Local Services Team. Attorney Blanchard has practiced across a range of the organization’s substantive law units and has litigated a variety of class action lawsuits on behalf of CLS’ client communities. Serving as a key member of CLS’ leadership team, she also has provided administrative oversight, led an organization-wide strategic plan implementation, and revamped CLS’ litigation and advocacy practices.
In addition to her work at CLS, Attorney Blanchard is a James W. Cooper Fellow of the Connecticut Bar Foundation, was a former co-chair of the Connecticut Bar Association’s Federal Practice Section, has served as a trainer for national seminars with the Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law, and served on the Connecticut Federal Court Advisory Committee for seven years, after being appointed by U.S. Senator Chris Murphy. “I am both honored and excited to lead such a great organization,” says Attorney Blanchard, “I look forward to working with CLS’ talented and dedicated staff to advance our mission of ensuring access to justice for low-income people.”
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Contact:
Helen Harris
Chair, CLS Board of Directors