Joseph "Jay" Arcata III has been named a James W. Cooper Fellow of the Connecticut Bar Foundation. The Fellows of the Foundation nominate outstanding Connecticut lawyers, judges, and teachers of law to become Fellows. Fellows are selected based on their outstanding professional, public or private careers in which they have demonstrated extraordinary legal ability and devotion to the welfare of their Community, State and Nation and the advancement of the legal profession.

The Connecticut Bar Foundation is a non-profit organization established in 1952 which works to ensure that the state's legal system is available to all, regardless of power or resources. The Foundation supports legal services to protect the interests of those who cannot afford private counsel.