2023
Tom Cella and Jack Steigelfest are honored to have been selected for inclusion in Best Lawyers of America, 2024
Tom Cella, Jack Steigelfest, and Keith Rudzik were selected as 2023 Super Lawyers.
Deborah Jekot was selected as a 2023 Super Lawyer Rising Star for the 5th straight year.
Tom Cella made a presentation to the Connecticut Trial Lawyers Association on the topic “Mediators Who Mediate & Litigate: Perspectives from Trial Lawyers”.
2022
Jack Steigelfest was selected to the 2022 Connecticut Super Lawyer list as a top rated insurance coverage lawyer.
Jack Steigelfest was listed in Best Lawyers under the heading Appellate Practice.
Jack Steigelfest became the Editor of Following the Fellows, the quarterly newsletter of the James W. Cooper Fellows of the Connecticut Bar Foundation.
Thomas P. Cella has been selected for inclusion in Best Lawyers in America in the fields of personal injury, medical malpractice and product liability litigation.
2021
Attorney Thomas P. Cella has been selected for inclusion in Best Lawyers in America in the categories of personal injury, product liability and medical malpractice, and Attorney Jack G. Steigelfest has been selected in the category of appellate practice.
Jack Steigelfest was selected to the 2021 Connecticut Super Lawyer list as a top rated insurance coverage lawyer.
2020
Thomas P. Cella was named a Super Lawyer in the field of personal injury.
Attorney Thomas P. Cella has been selected for inclusion in best Lawyers in America in the categories of personal injury, product liability and medical malpractice, and Attorney Jack G. Steigelfest has been selected in the category of appellate practice.
In January, Judge Meyer of the United States District Court entered summary judgment in favor of the insurer in the matter of Advanced Welding, LLC v. LM Insurance Corporation, 2020 WL 435489 (D. Conn. 2020), holding that the LM Insurance had properly canceled the workers compensation policy issued to Advanced Welding and did not owe coverage for a claim by a severely injured worker. Jack Steigelfest represented LM Insurance Corporation.
Jack & Dawn Steigelfest were elected to a two year term as co-Presidents of Beth Sholom B’nai Israel in Manchester.
In March 2020, Thomas P. Cella successfully defended a motor vehicle operator at a prejudgment remedy hearing in a rear end collision accident where the defendant admitted that she was texting while driving. The plaintiff claimed that the defendant’s violation of Connecticut’s anti-texting statute, CGS 14-296aa, amounted to reckless conduct justifying an attachment of the defendant’s assets. The Court, Moukawsher, J., concluded that the violation of the statute did not automatically require a finding of reckless conduct and that other factors, such as the speed of the defendant’s vehicle, the traffic conditions, the road conditions, the length of time the defendant was distracted while texting , have to be considered. The Court concluded that the evidence in this case, i.e., that the defendant looked down for five seconds to send a text and when she looked up traffic ahead of her had come to a stop, did not justify a finding of anything more than ordinary negligence. The plaintiff appealed the court’s decision. Rocky v. Dibble, 2020 WL 1656212 (March 4, 2020)(Moukawsher, J.). The lawsuit has recently settled.
2019
Thomas P. Cella was named a Super Lawyer in the field of personal injury.
Jack Steigelfest was appointed as an attorney trial referee and reappointed as a factfinder/arbitrator by the Connecticut Judicial Department.
Jack Steigelfest was on the faculty of the Connecticut Bar Association’s Connecticut Appellate Advocacy Institute held in May.
Deborah Jekot was named a Rising Star in Super Lawyers.
Jack Steigelfest was named a Super Lawyer in the field of Insurance Coverage.
Jack Steigelfest was listed in Best Lawyers of America in the field of Appellate law.
In December of 2019, the Connecticut Appellate Court issued its opinion in the matter of R.D. Clark & Sons, Inc v. Clark, 194 Conn. App. 690 (2019), holding that the trial court correctly valued the interest of James Clark in the plaintiff corporation. Jack Steigelfest argued and briefed the matter on appeal, with Christopher Harrington on the brief.
Attorney Thomas P. Cella has been inducted into the National Academy of Distinguished Neutrals (NADN). Membership is by invitation only. Only seventeen (17) attorneys in the State of Connecticut are members. According to the NADN website, NADN, formed in 2008, is America’s foremost professional organization for experienced mediators and arbitrators practicing in the field of civil & commercial conflict resolution. All Academy members are distinguished by their commitment to excellence in the field of dispute resolution, and enjoy sterling reputations within the profession.
David A. Sylvestre was named a Super Lawyer in the field of civil defense.
2018
Thomas P. Cella was named a Super Lawyer in the field of personal injury.
Jack Steigelfest was named a Super Lawyer in the field of Insurance Coverage.
Jack Steigelfest was listed in Best Lawyers of America in the field of Appellate law.
In December, the Connecticut Appellate Court affirmed the judgment in favor of the defendant Metropolitan District Commission in the matter of Perez v. Metropolitan District Commission, 186 Conn. App. 466 (2018), holding that the Commission was entitled to qualified immunity with respect to the wrongful death claim arising out of the drowning of the plaintiff’s decedent. Jack Steigelfest argued and briefed the matter on appeal, with Christopher Harrington on the brief.
Attorney Thomas P. Cella has been selected for inclusion in best Lawyers in America in the categories of personal injury, product liability and medical malpractice and Attorney Jack G. Steigelfest has been selected in the category of appellate practice.
Christopher Harrington recently served his two year term as president of the Connecticut Defense Lawyers Association and now serves as the chairman of the executive board of that organization.
2017
Thomas P. Cella was named a Super Lawyer in the field of personal injury.
In March, Judge Bolden of the United States District Court granted summary judgment for the plaintiff insurer in the matter of Farm Family Cas. Ins. Co. v. Samperi, 242 F. Supp.ed 83 (D. Conn. 2017), declaring that the insurer did not owe a duty to defend or indemnify the insured with respect to an underlying claim that the insured abused his step-daughter. Jack Steigelfest represented Farm Family Casualty Insurance Company.
Jack Steigelfest was appointed to the James W. Cooper Fellows Education and Program Committee of the Connecticut Bar Foundation.
Jack Steigelfest was named a Super Lawyer in the field of Insurance Coverage.
Jack Steigelfest was listed in Best Lawyers of America in the field of Appellate law.
Jack Steigelfest was reappointed by Chief Justice Rogers to a three year term as a member of the Connecticut Code of Evidence Oversight Committee.
2016
Thomas P. Cella was named a Super Lawyer in the field of personal injury.
Jack Steigelfest was on the faculty of the Connecticut Bar Association’s Connecticut Appellate Advocacy Institute held in May.
In July, the Defense Research Institute published the Uninsured Motorist and Underinsured Motorist Coverage Compendium, including a chapter on Connecticut law coauthored by Jack Steigelfest.
In August, the Connecticut Supreme Court issued its opinion in State Farm & Cas. Co. v. Tully, 322 Conn. 556 (2016). The court affirmed the judgment declaring that State Farm did not owe a duty to defend or indemnify Mr. Tully, holding that Mr. Tully’s voluntary intoxication did not defeat the intentional nature of his conduct. Jack Steigelfest briefed and argued the appeal on behalf of State Farm.
In August, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit issued its opinion in First Mercury Ins. Co. v. Shawmut Woodworking Supply, Inc., 660 Fed. Appx. 30 (2d Cir. 2016), holding that Liberty Mutual’s named insured Shepard Steel Corporaion was insured on a primary basis as an additional insured under a policy issued by First Mercury. Jack Steigelfest argued and briefed the matter on appeal.
Jack Steigelfest was named a Super Lawyer in the field of Insurance Coverage.
Jack Steigelfest was listed in Best Lawyers of America in the field of Appellate law.
2015
Thomas P. Cella was named a Super Lawyer in the field of personal injury.
On September 2, 2015, a Hartford jury returned a liability verdict in the consolidated matters of Oadeh v. Fagan and Fagan v. Conway, holding that Firas Oadeh was the passenger, and not the driver, of a work van that rolled over, resulting on the ejection and death of both occupants. Jack Steigelfest was co-counsel for the estate of Mr. Oadeh, which was then entitled to go on to recover substantial damages for wrongful death.
In November, the Connecticut Law Tribune published an article by Jack Steigelfest titled Summary Judgment Rules in Insurance Coverage Actions.