Mr. Hale served as a member of the Connecticut State Senate from 1987 through 1993. While a member of the Senate, he served as Chair of the Committee on Energy and Public Utilities and as a member of the Banks and Finance Committees. In 1993, Mr. Hale retired from the Senate and began his lobbying practice. Mr. Hale has continued his interest in elective politics by working on presidential, legislative and local campaigns in Connecticut.

During the 1998 legislative session, Mr. Hale and the Halloran & Sage LLC team worked closely with legislative leadership to draft the electric deregulation bill which promoted competition in that industry beginning in 2000. He has since represented a variety of energy industry interests in matters relating to industry restructuring, competition, alternative energy and generation.

Mr. Hale served as corporation counsel for the City of Ansonia from 1980 through 1983. He directed all legal matters for the city, participated in labor contract negotiations, advised the mayor and legislative body on matters, rendered official legal opinions for the city and oversaw the city's legal budget. From 1984 until his election as a State Senator in 1986, Mr. Hale served as counsel to Ansonia's Redevelopment Agency. He performed title searches, rendered legal opinions, worked with the mayor's office and legislative delegation on development matters and served as liaison to the city's legislative body. In 1983 he chaired Ansonia's bi-partisan redistricting commission which redrew the local legislative boundaries in order to bring the city into compliance with the principles of the "one man-one vote" cases of the United States Supreme Court.