Judge Hope C. Seeley graduated from the University of Connecticut with a Bachelor of Arts, magna cum laude, in May 1986 and earned her Juris Doctor with honors from the University of Connecticut School of Law in 1989.
In April of 2022, Governor Ned Lamont nominated Judge Seeley to be a judge of the Appellate Court and she was sworn into office on May 2, 2022. Prior to this appointment, Judge Seeley served as a judge of the Superior Court, having been nominated by Governor Dannel P. Malloy on January 24, 2013. While a Superior Court Judge, she presided over criminal jury trials in the Windham and Tolland Judicial Districts, and she served as the Assistant Administrative Judge in the Tolland and Hartford Judicial Districts. She also served as the Presiding Judge for Criminal Matters in the Hartford Judicial District.
Judge Seeley has served on a number of Judicial Branch committees, including the Executive Committee, the Education Committee, the Judicial-Media Committee and the Court Visitation Committee. She also served on the Criminal Jury Instructions Committee and was the Chair from 2021-2022.
Prior to Judge Seeley’s appointment to the bench, she was a principal in the Hartford law firm of Santos & Seeley, P.C. She practiced in both the state and federal courts and was involved in a broad variety of complex criminal and civil cases, both at the trial and appellate levels. She lectured annually at CTLA’s Criminal Litigation Seminar, presenting the Annual Review of Significant Decisions in Criminal Law and Procedure. From 1990 until approximately 2005, Judge Seeley worked as an instructor at the University of Connecticut School of Law in the legal methods and moot court programs. Judge Seeley currently co-teaches a seminar class at the University of Connecticut School of Law during the fall semester, "Law and Forensic Science."
Judge Seeley was the recipient of the Maxwell Heiman Award in 1998 from the Hartford County Bar Association, the Distinguished Graduate Award in 2006 from the University of Connecticut School of Law and the Equal Justice Advocate Award in 2007. She also was inducted as a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers in 2011.
Judge Seeley volunteered as Mock Trial Coach/Attorney Advisor for King Philip Middle School, West Hartford, and for Hall High School in West Hartford for many years. During her coaching tenure, both schools won state championships. In addition, while a lawyer, she served as a member of the Greater Hartford Legal Aid Foundation and as a board member, officer and chair of Community Partners in Action.
Judge Seeley served for many years on the Board of Civics First, a non-profit organization that until recently conducted and promoted law-related education programs in Connecticut schools. Judge Seeley continues to be active in preparing the mock trial problems for the high school and middle school state-wide mock trial competitions and serves as a volunteer judge for the competitions. Judge Seeley also is active in the Oliver Ellsworth Inn of Court which is designed to improve skills, professionalism and ethics of the bench and bar, and served as its President in 2018-2019. Judge Seeley currently is a member of the Board of Lawyers Concerned For Lawyers.