Bio

Like all of you, I'm a huge IRE fan. I joined IRE when I was still in college and I'm 46 now. I was a longtime reporter for The (Memphis) Commercial Appeal newspaper, and I now write about law firms and court cases for legal newswire Law360. I've also contributed recently to the Institute for Public Service Reporting at the University of Memphis and WKNO radio.

I've also won a lot of journalism contests, including a finalist honor in the Gerald Loeb awards for reporting on a troubled debt relief law firm.

I served as an IRE preliminary contest screener in 2024 and enjoyed it, then was elected to serve on the full IRE contest committee in 2025. It was such an engaging and fun experience to read and watch work from around the nation and as far away as South Korea - in many cases, I was reviewing work I would otherwise never have seen.

I enjoyed working with the other judges to choose the winners, too. The IRE leadership team invited me to come back for the 2025-2026 contest season, but I had to sit out for a year because I was too busy: my wife is currently running for school board in Memphis, Tennessee, where I live, and I've been working on her campaign. (Vote for Ayleem Connolly!)

Turning now to this IRE contest committee election, I would very much enjoy another chance to work again with colleagues for the 2026-2027 contest season.

I’ve shown that I’m a good fit to serve in this position.

The contest committee requires hard work. When I served on the committee in 2025, there were 52 finalist suggestions suggested to the committee, and some were extremely lengthy. I recall one entry that was a 99 page PDF! It took weeks for us to get through it all.

I have the will to do the hard work of reviewing this material, I have the experience to recognize good journalism when I see it, and I have the calm temperament necessary to work well with others in discussing it and picking winners.

Please feel free to reach out to me directly at danieljamesconnolly@gmail.com if you have any questions.