Connecticut Bar Association Honors Nancy Kennedy with the 2026 Ladder Award

HARTFORD, Conn.—The Connecticut Bar Association recently presented Stites & Harbison, PLLC attorney Nancy Kennedy with the 2026 Ladder Award for outstanding mentorship and service in the legal profession. She was honored at the Pathways to Leadership for Women Lawyers event held at the Aqua Turf Club in Plantsville, Conn., on March 5, 2026.

The Ladder Award was established in 2007 to recognize a distinguished woman attorney who has “left the ladder down” for other women to follow in her footsteps. The award acknowledges the contributions of women attorneys who mentor and guide junior lawyers to be successful.

Kennedy is a Member (Partner) of Stites & Harbison based in the West Hartford, Conn., office. She is a seasoned intellectual property attorney whose practice encompasses the full spectrum of domestic and international trademark, copyright, trade dress, domain name and cyberlaw matters. She routinely conducts complex trademark clearance searches and provides thoughtful, practical opinions on availability and registrability; prosecutes applications before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and U.S. Copyright Office; records registrations with U.S. Customs and Border Protection to safeguard clients’ brands at the border; and represents clients in contentious proceedings before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board.

Outside of the firm, Kennedy gives back to her community through a variety of activities. She has taught at the University of Connecticut (UConn) School of Law for more than a decade as an adjunct professor, and most recently as a Visiting Professor from Practice. Additionally, she was Supervising Clinical Attorney at UConn Law’s Intellectual Property and Entrepreneurship Law Clinic and at the school’s Animal Law Clinic. Kennedy is also a pro bono court-appointed Animal Advocate Attorney.