Stefan R. Underhill

Stefan R. Underhill is a senior U.S. district judge for the District of Connecticut. He teaches Federal Sentencing at the Law School.

Underhill began serving as a U.S. district judge on July 7, 1999, and was sworn in on Sept. 1, 1999. He served as chief judge of the District of Connecticut from Sept. 1, 2018, to Nov. 1, 2022.

Underhill graduated from the University of Virginia in 1978 with a B.A. in interdisciplinary studies. In 1981, he received a second B.A. in philosophy, politics and economics from Oxford University, which he attended on a Rhodes Scholarship. In 1984, he received his law degree from Yale Law School. At Yale, Underhill served as articles and book reviews editor of the Yale Law Journal.

Following his graduation from law school, Underhill clerked for Judge Jon O. Newman of the Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. He then joined Day, Berry & Howard as an associate, resident in the firm’s Stamford, Connecticut, office. In 1991, Underhill became a partner of that firm, where he spent the remainder of his career as a lawyer. In private practice, Underhill handled a wide variety of commercial litigation, concentrating in insurance coverage, intellectual property and appellate practice.

Underhill has long been active in the Federal Bar Council and the Federal Practice Section of the Connecticut Bar Association. He served for several years on the board of directors of Connecticut Legal Services.