History:

The present firm of Hawthorne, Ackerly and Dorrance, LLC is the successor to the firm of Higgins and Hawthorne, which Dun and Bradstreet lists as having been originated in New Canaan, Connecticut in 1926.

At that time, John Higgins resumed the practice of law after his retirement, and was persuaded to become the Town Counsel and remained in that position until the late 1930’s.

In 1937 Dana S. Hawthorne, Esq. joined him and they formed the firm of Higgins and Hawthorne. Mr. Hawthorne was a 1927 graduate of Harvard Law School. He also served several terms as New Canaan’s Probate Judge and was called “Judge” Hawthorne from then on. The two partners continued to practice together until 1947, when Mr. Higgins, then in his eighties, retired for a second time.

In 1948 Judge Hawthorne invited Dana C. Ackerly, a native New Yorker, who spent his summers in New Canaan, to join him as an Associate. Dana served in World War II in the U. S. Army’s Cavalry Unit and had graduated from Williams and from Yale School of Law. Two lawyers: one from Harvard, one from Yale. A healthy rivalry? In years to come, Mr. Ackerly would serve as Prosecutor in the Town Court and later as Associate Town Judge. Today, George. W. Baker, Esq. carries on the tradition and currently serves on the New Canaan Town Council.

After World War II New Canaan experienced the post war real estate boom which brought to the once small sleepy community, growth, development and commuters, all in need of legal services.

In 1950 Samuel R. Dorrance, Esq. was asked to join Higgins and Hawthorne as an Associate. Mr. Dorrance had served in the Army Air Corp during World War II and had been shot down and interned in Switzerland. He was a graduate of Princeton and Yale Law School, and was also a long time resident of the neighboring town of Darien. Within a few months, the three attorneys formed the present firm, Hawthorne, Ackerly & Dorrance LLC. Their offices were on the second floor of the store located at the Southwest corner of South Avenue and Elm Street.

As participants in the changing face of the village, the partners purchased the small frame building that stood on the corner of South Avenue and Cherry Street. They cleared the site, erected the present two-story brick building and in early July, 1952, they moved in. At first they occupied only part of the first floor, with only two other employees. Gradually they expanded and in 1982 they occupied the entire building. Today, 23+ lawyers, professionals, paralegals and staff call 25 South Avenue their professional home.

Many of the firm’s traditions are a reflection of what’s best about the past and about New Canaan, but at the same time, several innovations illustrate a future of state-of-the-art legal practice.