The 2018 Connecticut Legal Awards brightened the Bond Room at the Hilton Hartford Downtown Thursday night, with nearly 200 attendees on hand to celebrate professional excellence, including the 2018 Connecticut Law Tribune award for Attorney of the Year, which went to the University of Connecticut School of Law’s Karen DeMeola.

Information travels quickly, of course, in both news and legal social circles, but DeMeola, the current president of the Connecticut Bar Association, reacted with surprise to Thursday night’s major announcement, which was preceded by the acknowledgement of AOTY runners-up Thomas Behrendt of the Connecticut Legal Rights Project and former state Deputy Attorney General Aaron S. Bayer of Wiggin and Dana.