Biographies of Appellate Court Judges

Judge Jose A. Suarez was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico in 1966 and moved to Connecticut in 1977. He graduated from the University of Dayton in 1989 with a Bachelor of Arts in International Studies and received his Juris Doctor from the University of Connecticut School of Law in 1993.

Judge Suarez was nominated to the Appellate Court by Governor Ned Lamont on July 20, 2020, and was sworn into office on August 12, 2020. Prior to this appointment, Judge Suarez served as a judge of the Superior Court, having been appointed by Governor M. Jodi Rell in February, 2009.

While a Superior Court judge, Judge Suarez served as the Administrative Judge for the Middlesex Judicial District and the Presiding Judge for Criminal and Civil Matters. He also served in the Hartford Judicial District as the Presiding Judge for Family Matters, and as a criminal trial judge. In addition, Judge Suarez heard criminal, family and juvenile matters in the Tolland Judicial District.

Judge Suarez currently serves on the Code of Evidence Oversight Committee of the Supreme Court and co-chairs the Committee on Limited English Proficiency. Judge Suarez is a James W. Cooper Fellow with the Connecticut Bar Foundation. He is a member of the Judicial Branch Civics Academy and is a member of the Oliver Ellsworth Inn of Court.

Prior to his appointment to the bench, Judge Suarez was an Assistant Attorney General with the Office of the Attorney General, where he represented the state of Connecticut in complex litigation matters in state and federal court.