2006.04.13: April 13, 2006: Headlines: COS - Colombia: Law: Yale Daily News: Colombia RPCV William Dow for the accused
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2006.04.13: April 13, 2006: Headlines: COS - Colombia: Law: Yale Daily News: Colombia RPCV William Dow for the accused
Colombia RPCV William Dow for the accused
With clientele ranging from Yale students and faculty members to leading officials, Dow has handled many of the region's most controversial cases -- notably the 1999-2000 trial of former Saybrook College Master Antonio Lasaga, who admitted to possessing child pornography -- establishing himself as the city's leading lawyer for criminal defense.
Colombia RPCV William Dow for the accused
Dow '63 defends city's accused
BY PRIYA RAMAN
Staff Reporter
Last year, when Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity pledges were accused of theft, when Gregory Korb '08 faced charges of sexual assault, and when former Connecticut Gov. John Rowland pleaded guilty to corruption, they were all represented by the same person: New Haven defense attorney William Dow '63.
With clientele ranging from Yale students and faculty members to leading officials, Dow has handled many of the region's most controversial cases -- notably the 1999-2000 trial of former Saybrook College Master Antonio Lasaga, who admitted to possessing child pornography -- establishing himself as the city's leading lawyer for criminal defense.
When Dow graduated from Yale with a bachelor's degree in political science, he said, the University was a very different place. With no females and coat-and-tie requirements at dinner, Dow said, white males from elite preparatory academies dominated the University.
"[Yale] had just lifted its quota on the number of Jews allowed in," he said. "It was a very different place."
Although he worked his way through college, Dow's friends remember him as a studious but fun-loving young man with a passion for athletics. Benno Schmidt '63, Dow's classmate in Trumbull who served as president of Yale from 1986 to 1992, said Dow was an avid football and baseball fan devoted to intramural athletics.
"I remember Bill fondly from my student years as [a] very enjoyable person to have as a friend," he said.
A self-proclaimed townie, Dow was born and raised in the New Haven area. His proximity to the University during his youth afforded him a broader perspective on Yale's position in the community, he said. Unlike many Yale students who he said treat the city like a "hotel lobby," Dow said he feels a great appreciation for the town that he has called home for decades.
"The people here are terrific people," he said. "They work, they care about their families, they care about their communities, and they expect that sort of mentality to be reciprocated."
Friends said Dow's knowledge of the local area and city culture was a great asset during his college years. Schmidt, who lived in Dow's entryway, said that because Dow understood the town-gown relationship, he had a thorough understanding of the deeper undercurrents that shaped it.
Though Dow said he did not know it at the time, his dual perspective helped foster his desire to shape the way communities develop. It was this desire, he said, that led him from the gates of Yale to the coastal region of Colombia, where he worked in community development for the Peace Corps.
Dow's job, he said, was to help show the community strength in numbers by helping them organize against the government to demand subsistence.
"In retrospect, it's kind of ridiculous that a 21-year-old kid was teaching them how to live," Dow said. "[But] I like to think I learned an awful lot about human nature and how people deal with certain realities of life."
After returning from Colombia, Dow said, he faced a dilemma. Before going abroad, he had been accepted to several preeminent law schools. But the University of Pennsylvania Law School was the only one that held his spot until he returned home, he said. Although he was not sure whether or not to go to law school, he said his family finally succeeded in convincing him that attending law school was a wise choice.
While many of Dow's friends said they were not surprised he ended up in law school, they acknowledged that attending law school was a relatively trendy thing to do for students interested in the humanities looking to make a decent living.
"At that time, a fairly significant number of students were headed in that direction," Schmidt said.
Schmidt, who attended Yale Law School after college, said he feels Dow's decision to pursue law was obviously a good match -- a sentiment that many of Dow's friends said they share.
"He's considered the best lawyer in the city, and one of the best lawyers in the state," Phillip Arnold '63 said.
Dow was included in The Best Lawyers in America for his work in criminal defense representation.
More about William Dow
William F. Dow, III
William F. Dow, III was born in New Haven in 1941 and grew up in Stony Creek. He graduated from Yale University with a B.A. degree in 1963. Between 1963 and 1965, Mr. Dow was a Peace Corps volunteer in Colombia and became fluent in Spanish. He then attended the University of Pennsylvania Law School, graduating in 1968. Between 1970 and 1974, Mr. Dow was with the Public Defender Service of the District of Columbia. He was an Assistant United States Attorney for the Distict of Connecticut from 1974 to 1976.
For twenty-five years, Mr. Dow has been a lecturer in trial practice at Yale Law School. He is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers. He has been appointed by the Governor to the Judicial Selection Commission and is a member of the Connecticut Judicial Branch Criminal Division Task Force. He has served as Chair of the Executive Committee of the Section for the Administration of Criminal Justice of the Connecticut Bar Association and President of the Connecticut Criminal Defense Lawyers Association. He served on the Drafting Committee of the Evidence Code adopted by the Judges of the Superior Court. He is a member of the Executive Committee of the Federal Practice Section of the Connecticut Bar Association.
Mr. Dow is included in The Best Lawyers in America in connection with criminal defense representation. In 2006, Connecticut Magazine named him a Super Lawyer and one of the top three attorneys in the state.
Mr. Dow is heavily involved in white collar criminal defense and the trial and appeal of cases in both state and federal courts, involving homicide and other crimes of violence, drug offenses, and theft. He has defended both individuals and companies in criminal prosecutions. He also has argued numerous appeals in the Connecticut Supreme and Appellate Courts and the federal courts of appeals in New York, Pennsylvania, and the District of Columbia. Mr. Dow has extensive experience in both state and federal courts.
Most recently he represented the Governor of Connecticut in connection with impeachment proceedings as well as in a federal criminal investigation. Mr. Dow also represents members of the legal and medical professions in connection with grievance and licensing proceedings.
He presently serves on the Executive Committee of the Federal Practice Section of the CBA and was appointed by the Chief Judge of the United States District Court to chair a Committee on Appointment of the District's Federal Public Defender.
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Story Source: Yale Daily News
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Colombia; Law
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