Thibault, author of Law & Justice in Everyday Life, is a columnist for Law Tribune Newspapers, adjunct professor of journalism at the University of Hartford and managing partner of Murzin-Thibault Investigative Group LLC. He is the author of the History of the Connecticut State Police, just out this fall, and business books including The 12-Minute MBA for Lawyers. He is editor of APS Publications (http://www.apsreview.com/), the publishing arm of the Association of Productivity Specialists, and a contributing writer for State’s Most Wanted (www.statesmostwanted.com).

He also manages a non-profit foundation that awards $1,000 prizes annually to young poets and writers in Connecticut. The IMPAC-Connecticut State University Young Writers Trust (www.ctyoungwriters.org) has given $100,000 to teen-age poets and writers since 1998. 

Mr. Thibault has been an editor at such publications as The Hartford Courant, The Stamford Advocate, The Commercial Record, Norwich Bulletin, Register Citizen and The Times Leader. His profiles of subjects including poets and prosecutors, as well as essays on the arts, have appeared in Connecticut Magazine and Northeast Magazine. His work has also appeared on “Page Six” of The New York Post. He is a former commissioner and hearing officer for the Connecticut Freedom of Information Commission, an agency charged with opening access to government records; a former vice chairman of the Litchfield Board of Education and a former board member of the Connecticut Commission on the Arts.

Thibault’s work as an investigative reporter and feature writer has earned numerous state and national awards. A judge from the Society of Professional Journalists writing competition said this about Thibault’s probe of the cover-up of a hit-and-run death in a Connecticut city: “The writer explores whether New London’s former mayor benefited from a widespread cover-up for the 1973 hit-and-run death of a college student. Witty, compelling -- the writer has a knack for speaking in conversational tone, all the while quietly weaving in crucial facts to support his arguments that more people should be outraged by the shoddy circumstances surrounding the 1973 investigation.”

He co-authored and edited a series on the court system’s handling of a juvenile sexual assault case in 1982 and 1983 that led to changes in Connecticut law regarding the status of juveniles in adult court. The series won first place prizes from the National Newspaper Association for investigative reporting, the New England Press Association for community service and the Connecticut Society of Professional Journalists for in-depth reporting. Twice since 1999 Thibault’s notes and sources were sought by a lawyer who subpoenaed him to federal court. He refused to give up the sources and notes, and the court and the lawyer eventually left him alone. His legal expenses were subsidized by friends, colleagues, pro bono assistance from attorneys Phil Russell, Roy Ward and Norm Pattis and the Society of Professional Journalists Legal Defense Fund.

Connecticut’s state court judges, in reaction to a satirical column Thibault wrote about the prospects for the notorious basketball judge Bobby Knight to gain appointment to the bench (Cool Justice 10-2-00) , cancelled their subscriptions to The Connecticut Law Tribune en masse. (Judge Takes Issue with Law Tribune)

“In terms of what we buy and distribute in the judicial branch, we have a choice, and right now we’re not buying the Law Tribune,” said the Connecticut Chief Court Administrator, Robert Leuba. “There are some attitudes being used editorially which are not helpful to improving communications among the legal community … ” Law Tribune Publisher and Editor Vincent Valvo said the cancellations -- valued at $16,000 in annual revenue – didn’t put a significant dent in his paper's circulation or finances. But, he allowed, “We are not happy that the judiciary as a branch of government has decided to boycott us.”

In September 2004, the Hartford Courant and The Connecticut Law Tribune reported that the FBI seized notes, cameras, a journalist’s phone book containing sources and other materials from investigators working with the Murzin-Thibault Investigative Group. Lawyers chastised the government for taking the materials, noting the Fourth Amendment prohibits such seizures.

Mr. Thibault is a member of the National Conference of Editorial Writers, the Society of Professional Journalists, the Connecticut Library Association and the Society of American Business Editors and Writers. He also serves on the advisory board of the Connecticut Center for the Book, an affiliate of the Library of Congress. His current writing projects include books about prosecutorial misconduct, political corruption and the murder of a black youth by a white policeman in Connecticut, as well as a series of short stories about the adventures of a private eye.

Andy Thibault and his wife, Lora, an insurance company executive, are the parents of four children.

ANDY THIBAULT
P.O. Box 1415
Litchfield, CT 06759

tntcomm82@cs.com

*Phone: 860-567-8492 
*Fax: 860-567-9119
*Cell: 860-690-0211

COLUMNIST 
Law Tribune Newspapers

ADJUNCT PROFESSOR, JOURNALISM
University of Hartford

MANAGING PARTNER
Murzin-Thibault Investigative Group LLC