Attorney Profiles

Deborah S. Chang received her J.D., with honors, from Drake University Law School in Des Moines, Iowa in May of 1986, where she served as the Case Note Editor of the Drake Law Review. Following law school, she served as the judicial law clerk for Chief Judge Antoinette Dupont of the Connecticut Appellate Court.

Ms. Chang was associated with Day, Berry & Howard in Hartford, Connecticut and Snell & Wilmer in Phoenix, Arizona, prior to becoming a partner of the Stamford, Connecticut office of Cummings & Lockwood in 1996. From 1987 to 1991, while practicing law in Hartford, she was also an instructor and part of the adjunct faculty at the University of Connecticut Law School, where she taught appellate advocacy, served as a supervising attorney for independent study projects, and was the faculty advisor for the Moot Court Executive Board and teams.

During her practice, Ms. Chang has been recognized for her involvement in landmark cases. In 1990, she was selected by the American Bar Association's Young Lawyer's Division as one of the "20 Young Lawyers Whose Work Makes a Difference" for bringing the first civil rights action on behalf of prisoners with AIDS. That case resulted in a landmark settlement that was cited with approval by the National Commission on AIDS Report to the President. Ms. Chang thereafter drafted and lobbied for enacted legislation in Connecticut relating to the release of terminally ill prisoners on medical parole, and proposed and instituted the first national scholarship fund for individuals pursuing a medical or nursing degree to work with patients with AIDS. For this work, she was the recipient of numerous national awards.

In 1996, Ms. Chang brought the first lawsuit in the country based on the newly enacted Violence Against Women Act. As part of that lawsuit, Ms. Chang successfully argued for the upholding of the constitutionality of the statute in the first federal court to consider the issue. She was a guest commentator on several national television shows regarding the statute.

For the past fifteen years, Ms. Chang has specialized in products liability, medical malpractice, and personal injury cases. She has served as local, regional, and national counsel for a variety of companies and manufacturers. She has served as national counsel for Ford Motor Company in Bronco II rollover litigation, and was part of the trial team that obtained the first defense verdict in such litigation. She has argued numerous times in the Connecticut Supreme and Appellate Courts, and was appointed by the Connecticut Supreme Court to serve on the Connecticut Appellate Advisory Rules Committee.

As part of her trial practice, Ms. Chang has been extensively involved in jury research and focus groups. In 2000, she launched Legalvote.com which provides online focus groups for a variety of insurers, manufacturers, and trial counsel in prominent cases pending throughout the country. For over a year, she served as its CEO, and currently serves on its Advisory Panel and Board of Directors.

Ms. Chang has served as a Co-Chairperson of the American Bar Association Tort and Insurance Practice Section, Motor Vehicle Products Liability Litigation Group. Over the years, she has been selected for inclusion at various times in Who's Who in the West, Who's Who of American Women, Who's Who in American Law and Who's Who in Finance and Industry.