Board of Trustees

Edward "Woody" Connette

Woody Connette is an attorney with ESSEX RICHARDS, P.A. in Charlotte, North Carolina. He attended Davidson College, followed by law school at the University of North Carolina.

Woody serves as Board Chair for Easter Seals/UCP North Carolina and Virginia and has been active with that affiliate for about nine years. Before that, he served on the boards of a supported employment and a respite care provider that merged with UCP of North Carolina. He “survived” those mergers and then participated in the merger of the UCP and Easter Seals affiliates in North Carolina.

In his law practice, Woody has a strong interest in public policy and litigation related to disabilities, health care and mental health. He participated in a class action lawsuit against the State of North Carolina that challenged the prac¬tice of institutionalizing adults with developmental disabilities on psychiatric wards with patients with mental illness. For many years, a full-time Special Master and his staff supervised implementation of the court order. More recently, he has served as co-counsel in two Tennessee class actions challenging the conditions under which developmentally disabled children and adults have been confined at state institutions. As a result of these cases, the state of Tennessee is revamping its system of delivering services to its developmentally disabled citizens and is building a statewide network of community-based residential and habilitation programs.

Woody has served on the Executive Board and as President of the National Patient Advocate Foundation and has testified in Washington on proposed changes to ERISA regulations governing employee health and disability plans. He also serves as an advisor with the UNC-Charlotte Center for Applied Ethics and the Medical Humanities Advisory Board at Davidson College. Connette will receive the North Carolina Bar Association’s Renaissance Lawyer award at its annual convention in June. The award honors the “renaissance lawyer” who’s trustworthiness, respectful and courteous treatment of all people, demonstrated excellence in the pursuit of their profession, enthusiasm for intellectual achievement and commitment to professionalism, integrity, civility, and service in the practice of law and to the profession and community, inspires others. His public interest and pro bono work has been recognized by the North Carolina Academy of Trial Lawyers, the North Carolina Bar Association, the Mecklenburg County Bar, and various community organizations.

Connette is married to Jane Harper, a Charlotte mediator and retired state court judge.