Waterford, CT, United States -- Polito & Harrington Personal Injury Lawyer, Humbert J. Polito, Jr. was recently selected as 2024 “Lawyer of the Year” for Personal Injury Litigation-Plaintiffs in the New London, CT area.
Only a single lawyer in each practice area and designated metropolitan area is honored as the “Lawyer of the Year,” making this accolade particularly significant. These lawyers are selected based on particularly impressive voting averages received during the peer-review assessments. Receiving this designation reflects the high level of respect a lawyer has earned among other leading lawyers in the same communities and the same practice areas for their abilities, their professionalism, and their integrity.
Since it was first published in 1983, Best Lawyers has become universally regarded as the definitive guide to legal excellence.
Bert has previously been named Best Lawyers’ New London Area Lawyer of the Year for Plaintiffs’ Personal Injury Litigation 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, and 2024. Bert has also been designated as one of the top 50 attorneys in the State of Connecticut by Connecticut Super Lawyers®. In April of 2016, Bert was honored to be named a Fellow of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers, which limits membership to 500 Fellows from the United States.
Bert has been admitted to practice law in Connecticut since 1986, and in Rhode Island since 1987. His practice has focused exclusively on plaintiff’s personal injury litigation. In his work, Bert seeks to promote consumer and patient safety, and is particularly proud of two of his cases, one by verdict and the other by settlement. The former involved a product liability verdict in favor of a burn victim, wherein the Court ordered that product safety data in the possession of a non-party foreign manufacturer be produced over the objection of a defendant seller here in America.
Bert also being designated as one of the top 50 attorneys in the State of Connecticut by Connecticut Super Lawyers® is involved the settlement of a hospital malpractice case on behalf of a family which included the hospital’s implementation of patient safety procedures, as well as the designation of a family member to a working hospital committee seeking to improve patient safety. A number of the cases Bert has resolved have been in excess of one million dollars.
Bert is listed in Best Lawyers in America, in Connecticut and New England Super Lawyers, and admitted to the United States Supreme Court.
- Click here to learn more about the Best Lawyers selection process.
- Click here to learn more about the Super Lawyers selection process.
- Click here to learn more about the "Top 50" Super Lawyer list.
Bert resides in Essex, Connecticut with his wife and their three sons, where they are members of Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church.
Gratitude For Brothers In Life And In The Law ~ Bert Polito
I am the sixth of twelve children and was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio. I remain very close to my brothers and sisters and extended family from Cleveland. I benefit every day from the lessons I learned growing up as I did. My older brother John Sullivan Polito and my youngest brother, Michael Gerard Polito have also chosen to become trial lawyers. I am proud of the way each of my brothers advocates for their clients with strength, skill and integrity. All three brothers have been founding members of their own law firms and each have developed their own unique specialties in the law. I am deeply grateful for the insight and wisdom my attorney brothers often share with me about life and the law. Recently my youngest brother Michael was interviewed by Attorney At Law magazine in Cleveland where he talked about the impact that my brother John Sullivan Polito and I have had on him. You can read the article by clicking the magazine below.
Education:
- University of Connecticut School of Law, Hartford, Connecticut, 1986
- Honors: Cum Laude
- College of the Holy Cross, 1978
- Honors: Magna Cum Laude
- Honors: Phi Beta Kappa
Bar Admissions:
- Connecticut, 1986
- Rhode Island, 1987
- U.S. District Court District of Rhode Island, 1987
- U.S. District Court District of Connecticut, 1988
- U.S. Court of Appeals 2nd Circuit, 1993
- United States Supreme Court, 2017
Certification/Specialties:
- National Board of Trial Advocates, 2000
- National Board of Trial Advocates - (Recertified), 2005
Classes/Seminars Taught:
- Speaker, Connecticut Trial Lawyers Association
- Adjunct Professor of Law, University of Connecticut School of Law, Trial Advocacy, 1998 - Present
Professional Associations and Memberships:
- Connecticut Trial Lawyers Association 2009-2010
President - Connecticut Trial Lawyers Association, 2008 - 2009
President Elect - Connecticut Trial Lawyers Association, 1993 - Present
Member, Board of Governors - Connecticut Trial Lawyers Association, 2003 - Present
Present Member, Executive Committee - Connecticut Trial Lawyers Association
Member, Medical Malpractice Committee - American Association of Justice
Member - Connecticut Bar Association
Member - New London County Bar Association
Member - Rhode Island Trial Lawyers Association
Member - Rhode Island Bar Association
Member - Connecticut Traumatic Brain Injury Association, 1992 - 1998
Board of Governors
Past Employment Positions:
- Justice Donald F. Shea, Supreme Court of Rhode Island, Law Clerk, 1986 – 1987
Classes/Seminars Taught:
- Speaker, Connecticut Trial Lawyers Association
- Adjunct Professor of Law, University of Connecticut School of Law, Trial Advocacy, 1998 - Present
Honors and Awards:
- Martindale Hubbell Preeminent Lawyers (AV Rated), 2004 - Present
- New England Super Lawyers, 2007-Present
- Connecticut Magazine Super Lawyer, 2006- Present
- Best Lawyers in America, 2005- Present
- American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA), 2000 - Present
- Selected as a James W. Cooper Fellow of the Connecticut Bar Foundation
- New London Area Best Lawyers Personal Injury Litigation – Plaintiff’s Lawyer of the Year for 2013 as selected by Best Lawyers
Areas of Practice:
- Personal Injury
Litigation Percentage:
- 100% of Practice Devoted to Litigation
Personal Injury Cases (CT & RI):
- Car accident injuries
- Slip and fall injuries
- Injuries caused by dogs and other animals, dog bites
- Truck and tractor trailer accident injuries
- Motorcycle accident injuries
- Traumatic brain injury, mild TBI
- Spinal cord injuries
- Bicycle accident injuries
Medical Malpractice Cases (CT & RI):
- Surgical errors
- Birth injuries
- Failure to diagnose
- Infections, MRSA
- Medication errors
Nursing Home Injury & Neglect Cases (CT & RI):
- Bed sores
- Falls
- Infection
- Medication errors
- Elder abuse
- Misconduct with elders
Sexual Misconduct Cases (CT & RI):
- Priests and Ministers
- School Teachers
- School Coaches
- Extended Statute of Limitations
Product Liability Cases (CT & RI):
- Defective design
- Defects in manufacturing
- Failure to provide adequate guards
- Failure to warn of dangers and defects
Business Litigation Cases (CT & RI):
- CUTPA (Connecticut Unfair Trade Practice)
- Breach of Contract
- Tortious Interference with business and contracts
- Connecticut Trade Secrets