Barbara S. McGrath, President

Barbara was selected as CULI’s President in May of 2011. Barbara previously served as CULI’s Assistant Director for eleven years. She also served as founder and Executive Director of a statewide public-private partnership, the Community Economic Development Fund. From 1991-1993, Barbara was the Deputy Banking Commissioner for the State of Connecticut, during a period of significant turbulence and change in the Connecticut banking landscape. She started her law career in private practice with Day, Berry & Howard in Hartford. Barbara serves on the Boards of the Connecticut Children’s Medical Center, the Children’s Fund of Connecticut and its affiliate, the Child Health and Development Institute, Commercial Loan Partners (a nonprofit 504 lender), Willimantic Whitewater Partnership, as the Attorney General’s appointee on the Fleet Community Oversight Committee (regarding the $14.6 billion commitment in connection with Fleet’s merger with BankBoston) and she served until recently as an elected member of the Board of Selectmen in Windham, Connecticut, where she lives with her husband.

Barbara graduated from Yale College (B.A. 1977) and the University of Connecticut School of Law (J.D. 1983).

William R. Breetz, Of Counsel

Bill Breetz is the retired former President and Executive Director of CULI. In his retirement, Bill has graciously agreed to assist with many CULI projects. CULI was Bill’s second tour at the Law School; he was first here from 1970 to 1972, when he taught Civil Procedure and founded the Civil Legal Clinic. For many years he has represented a variety of profit and non-profit groups throughout Connecticut involved in housing and a broad range of other matters with public impact.

Bill is a Connecticut Commissioner to the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws, a member of the Joint Editorial Board on Real Property Acts of the Uniform Laws Conference, and a member of the American College of Real Estate Lawyers.

Bill is currently the Chair of the Unform Law Drafting Committee for the Home Foreclosure Procedures Act. He also served as a Reporter of the Uniform Laws Conference for the Uniform Condominium Act and the Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act (UCIOA). And, Bill chaired the study groups of the Law Revision Commission, which resulted in Connecticut’s 1983 adoption of UCIOA, and the 1995 Amendments to UCIOA. In 2003 and 2004 Bill chaired the drafting committee for the Uniform Environmental Covenants Act.

Bill has been a member of the Connecticut Law Revision Commission since 1977 and chaired that Commission from 1980 to 1984. He has chaired several study groups of the Law Revision Commission considering other real estate laws.

Bill was educated at Dartmouth College (B.A. 1963) and the University of Virginia Law School (L.L.B. 1968). He and his wife live in Hartford.

Douglas Corning, Of Counsel

Douglas joined CULI in 2010. Prior to CULI, Douglas served as in-house counsel for a municipal housing authority and as a legal researcher. Douglas is also a licensed real estate broker.

Law is Douglas’ second career. His first was software development. Douglas worked for Charles Schwab, AIG Financial Products, and Prodigy Services, as well as many software startups.

Douglas was educated at Trinity College (B.A, Economics/Mathematics) and the University of Connecticut School of Law (J.D.).