About Paul J.
Paul J. Knierim began his legal journey at Williams College, where he earned a B.A. in 1986, and continued at Yale Law School, receiving his J.D. in 1989. Those academic years set him on a path that has combined public service, court work and private practice. He entered the Connecticut legal community immediately after law school and spent his first year clerking for the Connecticut Supreme Court.
After the clerkship, Knierim moved into private practice and public office almost at once. In 1991 he helped found the firm Drew, Mersereau & Knierim and served that same year as a state representative in the Connecticut General Assembly. The early 1990s were busy. He later joined Cummings & Lockwood as a partner in 1997.
Knierim's career took a judicial turn in 1999 when he became judge of the Simsbury Probate Court. That role lasted through later appointments in the probate system. In 2008 he served as Probate Court Administrator for the State of Connecticut, overseeing administrative aspects of the probate courts across the state. Those years gave him direct experience with estate administration, guardianship proceedings and the procedural side of probate courts.
He rejoined private practice after his administrative tenure, remaining active in both law and local affairs. In 2019 he became counsel at Czepiga Daly Pope & Perri LLC and was elevated to partner there in 2022. His partners and colleagues describe him as someone who combines courtroom and bench perspectives when handling complex probate and trust matters.
Knierim has maintained a steady presence in professional and civic organizations. He is a member of the Connecticut Bar and the Connecticut Bar Foundation, and belongs to the National College of Probate Judges. He is listed as emeritus in the Connecticut Probate Assembly. Outside the legal sphere he has taken on leadership and volunteer roles: vice president of the Simsbury Cemetery Association, trustee of the Simsbury Land Trust and of the Connecticut Trust for Historic Preservation, a tutor with Literacy Volunteers Greater Hartford, and a participant in the Elder Justice Coalition. He has also served as co-chair of the Governor's Commission on School Choice.
That mix of courtroom work, probate administration and civic involvement shapes how he approaches clients and cases. He handles probate court matters, estate and trust administration, guardianship and related litigation, combining procedural knowledge from his years on the bench with private practice experience. He currently practices at Czepiga Daly Pope & Perri, where his work centers on probate, trusts, estates and guardianship matters.
