A compilation of news notes about Westport professionals and businesses.

Two partners at FLB Law in Westport are among those chosen to receive the 2022 Connecticut Legal Awards presented by the Connecticut Law Tribune.

Thomas P. Lambert and Laura A. Penney will be among 80-plus winners from 45 firms honored in 13 categories at the awards dinner in May.

Lambert is one of three finalists in the “Best Mentor” category, and Penney has been named to the 2022 group of “New Leaders in the Law.”

Lambert was chairman of the Associates and Partner Advancement committees at a former firm, and over the past two decades, he counts at least 15 attorneys he mentored from the beginning of their careers through promotion to partner.

Penney is a civil litigator, who was promoted to partner in 2021, after less than a decade in practice.

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Louis D’Onofrio of Westport has been named “APRN Provider of the Year” by the Connecticut Advanced Practice Nursing Society.

D’Onofrio, the Westport-Weston Health District’s former director of clinical services, operates Best Health Primary Care in Bridgeport.

In the citation, APRN credits D’Onofrio as “a hard-working and dedicated provider that truly cares for his patients …”

He “truly captures the role of an APRN as they care for the whole patient by not only focusing on their medical condition but also their mental and social health,” according to the APRN.

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Vern Hayden, a Westport author and financial planner, has joined Rightirement Wealth Partners, a fiduciary financial planning firm in Harrison, N.Y., as a financial planner.    

Hayden also has become a columnist for the International Business Times.

Hayden, a certified financial planner since 1978, founded the Hudson Valley Chapter of the Financial Planning Association in 1987 and has been on the National Board of the FPA. In 1994-95, he was chairman of the College for Financial Planning, which created the CFP designation.

In 2021, the Connecticut FPA created the annual Vern Hayden Lifetime Achievement Award.

Hayden has regularly appeared on CNBC and Bloomberg to discuss financial issues, and has written two books, “Money, Use It or Lose It — The Common Sense Process of Financial Planning” and “Getting an Investing Game Plan: Creating It, Working It, Winning It.”