Norman S. Drubner
Mr. Drubner has been practicing law in Connecticut for over 50 years, focusing on real estate law, commercial law, business law and finance. He is a member of the Connecticut Bar, the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut, and the Waterbury and Connecticut bar associations.
Mr. Drubner is a former Trustee of Teikyo Post University, a Director of American Bank of Connecticut, a Trustee of the Jewish Federation of Waterbury and a Director of Beth El Synagogue. He has been a Director of the Waterbury Regional Chamber of Commerce and Beth El Synagogue. He has also served as Campaign Chairman for the United Way Annual Fund of the Central Naugatuck Valley and Campaign Chairman for the Easter Seals Annual Campaign. He is a former recipient of the Up On Waterbury Award and the Malcolm Baldrige Community Award.
Mr. Drubner received his undergraduate degree from Boston University in 1960 and a Juris Doctorate degree from Columbia University in 1963.
James E. Hartley, Jr.
Mr. Hartley has been practicing law in Connecticut for more than 35 years, focusing on complex commercial and class action litigation. He is a member of the Connecticut Bar and is admitted to practice before the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and the United States Supreme Court.
Mr. Hartley was co-lead counsel in the matter of In re Colonial Realty Litigation Securities Fraud, a case that resulted in a $120 million settlement. He was also co-lead counsel in In re U.S. Foodservice Pricing Litigation, a case that resulted in a $297 million settlement and class counsel in the matter of In re Prudential Insurance Co. Sales Practice Litigation, a case that resulted in a settlement to national insurance policyholders of $2 billion. Mr. Hartley was also a member of the Plaintiff’s Steering Committee in In re Managed Care Litigation, MDL-1334 in the Federal Court of Southern District of Florida.
Mr. Hartley was co-founder of Verus Analytics a firm that recovered over $13 billion on behalf of 48 states and the citizens of those states. Mr. Hartley served as its CEO from 2007 through 2020, at which time Verus Analytics was acquired by Kroll. Verus and Mr. Hartley were featured on a 60 Minutes broadcast, "Not Paid," which aired on April 17, 2016 and August 14, 2016.
Mr. Hartley is a James W. Cooper Fellow.
Mr. Hartley graduated from Boston College and received his Juris Doctorate degree from Columbia University.
Devin J. Hartley
Mr. Hartley is an attorney admitted to practice in Connecticut and New York. Mr. Hartley received his undergraduate degree from the University of Virginia in 2008, after which he spent two years on Capitol Hill working for the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs. Mr. Hartley then attended the University of Connecticut School of Law, where he obtained his Juris Doctorate degree in 2013. While at UConn Law, Mr. Hartley served as the Legal Abstracts Editor for the Connecticut Insurance Law Journal and his Note entitled “A Billion Dollar Problem” was published in the Spring 2013 edition of the Connecticut Insurance Law Journal.
After law school, Mr. Hartley spent one year working at the New York County District Attorney’s Office in Manhattan prior to joining Brown Rudnick LLP for two years as an associate in their Commercial Litigation group. In 2016, Mr. Hartley joined Drubner, Hartley, Mengacci & Hellman where he currently represents the City of Waterbury, as well as twenty-nine additional municipalities throughout the State of Connecticut, in the nationwide Opioid Litigation. The Opioid Litigation, although on-going, has already yielded significant global settlements with major opioid manufacturers, distributors and large pharmacy chains. In addition to his work on the Opioid Litigation, Mr. Hartley currently serves as Special Counsel to the City of Waterbury.
Charles S. Hellman
Mr. Hellman has been practicing law for over twenty years, focusing on complex civil and class action litigation. He is a member of the New York Bar, and the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, and the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York.
Mr. Hellman has played a substantial role in representing plaintiffs in cases that have resulted in combined recoveries of over $950 million, including In re U.S. Foodservice Pricing Litigation (D. Ct.) ($297 million recovery), In Re CVS Corporation Securities Litigation (D. Ma.) ($110 million recovery), and In Re Raytheon Company Securities Litigation (D. MA) ($460 million recovery). He was also centrally involved in litigating the managed care cases that resulted in landmark settlements on behalf of physicians throughout the nation. Mr. Hellman began his career as an associate at Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP, where he successfully represented clients in a variety of complex commercial litigation matters.
Mr. Hellman received his undergraduate degree from Bard College in 1985 and a Juris Doctorate degree from New York Law School in 1996 (summa cum laude), where he was an Articles Editor of the New York Law School Law Review.
Jeffrey M. Drubner
Mr. Drubner has been an attorney for over 25 years. Prior to going into private practice, he was a Special Agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation from 1990 to 2000. Mr. Drubner was a certified Legal Instructor and Legal Advisor for the Bureau. In addition, Mr. Drubner investigated international organized crime, fraud and global money laundering.
Mr. Drubner received his undergraduate degree from Emory University in 1987, and his Juris Doctorate degree from Boston College Law School in 1990 (cum laude). Mr. Drubner is a member of the Massachusetts Bar.
Joseph A. Mengacci
Mr. Mengacci is an attorney with over 47 years of Personal Injury litigation experience. Mr. Mengacci is a member of the Connecticut Bar, the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut and the United States Federal Court of Appeals 2nd Circuit.
In addition to being a Partner at Drubner, Hartley, Mengacci & Hellman, LLC, Mr. Mengacci presently serves as Special Counsel, for the Office of the Corporation Counsel, City of Waterbury. He also served as a Judge in the Superior Court of Connecticut.
Mr. Mengacci is Martindale-Hubbell AV Rated, a fellow of the American Board of Trial Advocates(ABOTA) and is a former member of the Civil Commission, at the Judicial Department for the State of Connecticut.
Mr. Mengacci also served on the Board of Trustees of the Connecticut State University System, is a former Chairman and Member of the State of Connecticut Judicial Selection Commission, is a Waterbury Advisory Board Member for the Savings Bank of Danbury and served as President, Member and Board of Director for the Connecticut Trial Lawyers Association.
Mr. Mengacci received his Juris Doctorate degree in 1976 from Loyola University School of Law where he was a member of the 1974 National Moot Court Championship Team and received the Outstanding Student Award from Loyola University Law School Clinic. Mr. Mengacci received a B.S. in Business Administration from LaSalle College in 1972.
Ciarra J. Lofstrom
Ms. Lofstrom is an associate attorney at the firm and is admitted to practice in the State of Connecticut.
Ms. Lofstrom received her J.D. from the University of Connecticut, where she was a member of the Moot Court Association. During law school, she interned with the Connecticut Office of the Attorney General and the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. She received her B.A. in Economics from California State University, Long Beach, where she was also a member of the Undergraduate Moot Court program.
