John M. Gesmonde
Member
jgesmonde@gpsp.com
Phone: 203-407-4200
Fax: 203-407-4210
Born: New Haven, Connecticut, January 17, 1946
Education: Columbia University, B.A., 1967, University of Connecticut, J.D., 1973
Practice Areas: Employment and Labor; Government/Municipalities; Land Use/Zoning
Membership: New Haven County, Connecticut and American Bar Associations; National Employment Lawyers' Association; Connecticut Employment Lawyers' Association.
Admissions: 1973, Connecticut; 1975, U.S. District Court, District of Connecticut and U.S. Court of Appeals, Second Circuit; 1977, U.S. District Court, Eastern and Southern Districts of New York
Miscellaneous Information: Associate Editor, Connecticut Law Review, 1972-1973. Author: "Emotional Neglect in Connecticut," 5 Connecticut Law Review, p. 100, 1972. Member, North Branford Town Council, 1977-1981. Town Attorney for the Town of North Branford, 1985-2007. Arbiter, State Department of Education Arbitration Panel, 1983-. Designated: Connecticut Super Lawyer, 2007 and 2008; New England Super Lawyer, 2007 and 2008, Connecticut Magazine.
Biography:
John M. Gesmonde practices in the areas of labor, education, and employment law as well as municipal law and select land use issues. In 2007, Connecticut Magazine named him a Super Lawyer, a designation awarded by peer evaluation to the top 5% among all attorneys practicing in the state.
Mr. Gesmonde has experience representing individual employees, including superintendents of schools, more than 90 school administrator associations, and other public sector unions including police, fire, secretarial, paraprofessional, nurse, custodial, and town hall employee units in collective bargaining, grievance arbitration, termination matters, and unfair labor practice complaints. He has extensive experience appearing and arguing before local boards and commissions, in the Connecticut Superior Courts, and in both the Appellate and Supreme Courts on labor and education issues as well as land use issues, including eminent domain, affordable housing, zoning, and inland wetland matters.
Since his appointment in 1982, Mr. Gesmonde has served on the State Department of Education Arbitration Panel as a labor sector advocate arbitrator.
Mr. Gesmonde received his B.A. degree from Columbia in 1967. In 1973, he received his J.D. degree from the University of Connecticut School of Law where he served as Associate Editor of the Law Review and received the American Jurisprudence Award for excellence in contracts. Mr. Gesmonde was admitted to the Connecticut bar in 1973 and is admitted to the bars of the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut (1975), the U.S. Court of Appeals, Second Circuit (1975), and the U.S. District Courts for the Eastern and Southern Districts of New York (1977).
He is a frequent guest lecturer for teacher, administrator, superintendent, and assistant superintendent organizations and is a contributor to the Connecticut Association of School Administrators (CASA) newsletter. Mr. Gesmonde is a member of the New Haven County and Connecticut bar associations, the Connecticut Employment Lawyers’ Association, the National Employment Lawyers’ Association, and the American Arbitration Association.
Attorney Gesmonde has served as Town Attorney for North Branford since 1985, but, by choice, he declines to represent the Town in employee/union matters.
