Dating back more than half a century to his days as a young attorney, Connecticut-born and bred consumer advocate Ralph Nader has dedicated his life's work to finding courage and justice in the face of adversity.

That experience hit home this year when his grandniece, Samya Stumo, was among the 157 victims lost in the Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crash on March 10. The tragedy has returned Nader to the international spotlight, as he has willingly taken on a fight with Boeing, the manufacturer of the controversial 737 Max airplane, a new model that had suffered a crash just five months earlier in Indonesia, killing all 189 people on board.

"It is a tragic irony," Nader said Thursday by phone from his office in Washington, D.C., that events seemingly tailored to his expertise have involved the loss of one of his own family members. But this experience also informs a positive lesson Nader will bring to a Connecticut event next month.

Nader will give the closing presentation for the first-ever Tort Law Day, an all-day conference happening Oct. 5, at the American Museum of Tort Law in Winsted. Envisioned as a virtual holiday dedicated to the importance of the field, the gathering will include several heavyweight speakers, including a keynote address by Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island.

A dozen different speakers will appear at the event, which will cover the importance of tort law as it relates to issues ranging from sexual harassment and the #MeToo movement to sports, medical malpractice, the environment and civil rights. "There isn't a sector that tort law doesn't deal with in some way," Nader said. "You notice tort law cases on the news all the time but they never use the word. I've never figured that out."

Nader said any Connecticut lawyer interested in tort law will want to attend to get a full day of information and free refreshments. Morning talks will include Kristen Rose, the victim of a car crash in Georgia who used money won in her personal injury case to set up the nonprofit Auto Accident Survivors of Georgia, which connects other victims with medical and legal services.

Rose's talk will be followed by Lynne Bernabei, founding partner of Washington, D.C.'s Bernabei & Kabat, who will discuss sexual assault in the #MeToo era. At noon, Kane County, Illinois State's Attorney Joe McMahon, who convicted Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke of second-degree murder, will discuss police violence and civil rights. Afternoon presentations will include Marc Rotenberg, president of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, discussing internet rights and safety.

Museum Executive Director Richard Newman said Tort Law Day is aimed at both lawyers and nonlawyers. "For anyone who's interested in these cutting-edge issues, you're not going to have a chance to see all of these people at once, including Sen. Whitehouse, who has been a staunch advocate for justice," he said. "Any lawyer who's picked a jury knows how much ignorance and misinformation is besetting the public. We're hoping this program can be a model for educating people around the country."

Newman said tort law is often the subject of misunderstanding and miseducation, and that the Oct. 5 program promises to be "eye-opening."

For fans and followers of Nader, Tort Law Day will be another realization of a vision for the 85-year-old consumer rights icon, who promised to open a law museum in Connecticut and followed through in 2015. Nader noted that longtime friend and ally Joan Claybrook, the former head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, sold her stock in Boeing following the March Ethiopian Airlines crash and donated proceeds to the American Museum of Tort Law in Samya Stumo's name, posthumously making Nader's grandniece a founding member.

As a criminal mass tort against Boeing continues, along with the pain for families of the victims, Nader said he'll bring a message of hope for the future of tort law in the United States. "I would like this to become a tradition," he said, connecting Tort Law Day with the traditional history of Labor Day. "Tort law grabs people like no other law. We want nonlawyers to come, but we would also like lawyers to come. I'll take a photo with any tort law [attorney's] family whose kids want to find out what Mommy and Daddy do at the office."

Nader said Connecticut lawyers are particularly welcome, "and there's free parking."

Visit the American Museum of Tort Law online or call 860-379-0505 to make reservations.