Born in New London, Connecticut,[2] Dorsey received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Yale University in 1953, and a Bachelor of Laws from Harvard Law School in 1959.
[3] Dorsey was in private practice in New Haven, Connecticut from 1959 to 1974.
He was the United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut from 1974 to 1977.
[3] Dorsey was nominated by President Ronald Reagan on June 7, 1983, to a seat vacated by Judge T. Emmet Clarie.
[3] Dorsey died after a long illness on January 20, 2012, in New Haven, aged 80.