Lee Hoffman is chair of Pullman & Comley, where he previously served as co-chair of the firm’s Real Estate, Energy, Environmental and Land Use Department. His practice focuses on the development of energy projects, environmental regulatory compliance and the redevelopment of contaminated properties.
He represents developers, municipalities and utilities before the Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority and the Connecticut Siting Council, with experience spanning facility siting, transmission infrastructure, telecommunications, cable franchise renewals and project finance.
Over the past year, the firm earned national and regional recognition for its work, including being named a 2025 Inc. Power Partner, a Law360 Regional Powerhouse for the second consecutive year, and once again a Hartford Business Journal Best Places to Work in Connecticut.
Looking ahead, Hoffman said the firm’s biggest challenge and opportunity is responding effectively to rapid change, particularly technological disruption driven by artificial intelligence.
What qualities are most essential for effective leadership today?
I mentioned change in the question above, and even before the AI revolution hit, I would say that if you’re not comfortable with an increasing rate of change, you should probably get out of any leadership positions as soon as possible.
The ability to take in information from as many sides of an issue as possible, leave your ego at the door and listen as you try to develop consensus on a response, separates the truly effective leaders from others. There are a host of other tools, but being flexible in the face of change and evaluating a variety of viewpoints usually leads to success.
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What do you value most about living or doing business in Connecticut?
The original version of Avis’ famous “We try harder” ad campaign said, “When you’re only No. 2, you try harder.” I think that sums up Connecticut beautifully.
We are in between New York and Boston, but we don’t need them to be great. Being the “little brother” to those metropolitan areas gives us an underdog mentality that serves us well. It drives us to innovate and increase our quality of life so that we can compete (favorably) with the bigger areas to our east and west.
What is one change that would make Connecticut more competitive economically?
Increasing technical education. We have tens of thousands of positions that are unfilled in our aerospace and technical manufacturing industries, and these industries are part of what make Connecticut’s economy tick.
The Connecticut Technical Education and Career System (CTECS) is a great start to address this need, but they are turning away thousands of applicants each year due to a lack of space. Increasing seats in the CTECS schools will be an investment in Connecticut that will pay off dividends for future generations.
Book recommendations: “Grit” by Angela Duckworth; “Atomic Habits” by James Clear
Go-to news media outlets: Hartford Business Journal, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, The Atlantic and The Economist
Favorite podcast: “Revisionist History” by Malcolm Gladwell
Hobby or leisure activity: I’m a Scouting volunteer, so that means camping with our Troop, as well as the outdoor activities that come with that. So, if I’m not camping with the Scouts, I try to spend my time fishing and hiking.