2026 District Conference "America at 250: The Backbone of Democracy - Courts, Speech, People, and the Purse"

John J. McConnell, Jr., is the Chief judge in the United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island. President Barack Obama nominated him to the bench on January 5, 2011 and the United States Senate confirmed his nomination on May 4, 2011. Prior to becoming a judge, Judge McConnell was a trial attorney for 25 years during which time he represented persons injured by exposure to asbestos, persons in suits against the tobacco industry, and children poisoned by lead paint. He clerked for Associate Justice of the Rhode Island Supreme Court Donald F. Shea. Judge McConnell is a chairperson of the Board of Crossroads Rhode Island, the state's largest provider of services to the homeless; he serves on the Board of the Institute for the Study and Practice of Non-Violence; and he is on the Board of Trinity Repertory Company. He has received many awards and honors, including the Judicial Merit Award, Rhode Island Association for Justice in 2013; Major's Special Recognition Award, "A Celebration of Housing- Together We Achieve Our Goals" in 2007; The Best Lawyers in America - Mass Tort Litigation (2007-2010); Childhood Lead Action Project "Above and Beyond the Call of Duty" Award (1998-2006); Rhode Island Department of Health, Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program Award for Public Health Partnership in 2006; Rhode Island Public Health Association, Bertram Yaffe Award in 2006; and Trial Lawyer of the Year finalist, Trial Lawyers for Public Justice in 2006. Judge McConnell was born in Providence, Rhode Island and received his A.B. from Brown University in 1980 with a concentration on Urban Studies and his J.D. from Case Western Reserve University School of Law in 1983, where he was the recipient of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Award.

Mary S. McElroy is a District Judge for the United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island. She was nominated by President Donald J. Trump and confirmed on September 30, 2019. Judge McElroy clerked for the Honorable Donald F. Shea of the Supreme Court of Rhode Island from 1992-1993 and was in private practice until 1994. She served as an assistant public defender for the Rhode Island Public Defender from 1994-2006, as an assistant federal defender with the Federal Defender for the Districts of Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island from 2006-2012, and as the Rhode Island Public Defender from 2012-2019. Judge McElroy was born in Providence, Rhode Island and received her B.A. from Providence College in 1987 and her J.D. from Suffolk University Law School in 1992.

Patricia A. Sullivan has served as United States Magistrate Judge, U.S. District Court, District of Rhode Island since 2012. Prior to serving in this capacity she practiced law at Edwards Wildman Palmer LLP (formerly Edwards & Angell, LLP and Edwards Angell Palmer Dodge, LLP), Providence, Rhode Island from 1978 until 2012. She has served on the Adjunct Faculty at Roger Williams University School of Law and as the Chair and Co-Chair of numerous court, community and Bar Association Committees including serving as President (2000 – 2003) and Member, Board of Directors, Federal Bar Association, 2000 – 2019; Member, Board of Trustees, Rhode Island Bar Foundation, 2005 – 2020; and Member, Board of Trustees, Roger Williams University School of Law, 2013 – present. She graduated from Wellesley College, B.A. with honors, 1973; and Georgetown University Law Center, J.D., magna cum laude, 1978 where she served as Articles Editor on the Georgetown Law Review.