James H. Rotondo

Overview

James "Jim" Rotondo, a seasoned trial lawyer, represents a broad range of corporate clients in product liability, negligence, insurance coverage, class action and commercial litigation matters.

In his product liability practice, Jim defends retailers, suppliers and manufacturers of industrial equipment, aviation, automotive and consumer product lawsuits. He also represents clients in commercial litigation, and defends religious, charitable and educational organizations in lawsuits and claims alleging sexual abuse and breach of fiduciary and/or statutory duties.

In addition, Jim also represents insurers in litigation. With his deep understanding of this complex, fast-paced and highly regulated industry, he is able to assist them in disputes over coverage and business practices.

Clients seek out Jim for his extensive experience trying cases to verdict before judges and juries in state and federal courts in Connecticut and Massachusetts. He also has represented clients in matters pending in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, New Jersey and New York.

Jim has been listed in Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business* (Chambers & Partners) as a recognized practitioner for Litigation: General Commercial in Connecticut since 2014. In the 2020 edition, Chambers wrote that he is "a highly experienced litigator" and quoted a source, who described him as "detail-oriented, responsive and client-centered."

* No aspect of these advertisements has been approved by the highest court of any state. See Awards Methodology.

Experience

Tried property damage action arising out of the explosion of industrial equipment; verdict upheld on appeal to jury verdict of $18.3 million in favor of clients

Tried case involving collapse of suspended scaffold that resulted in two deaths to jury verdict in favor of client

Represented distributor of allegedly defective kerosene heater that resulted in significant burn injuries; tried to jury verdict in favor of client

Tried an action arising out of the denial of a disability claim to jury verdict in favor of client insurer

Represented homeowner's insurer in a declaratory judgment action; trial court granted summary judgment for insurer on the basis of an automobile exclusion in the policy, which was upheld on appeal

Represented an insurer in an insurance coverage case arising out of a series of product liability cases against its insured; after extensive discovery involving the production of millions of pages of documents and scores of depositions, the case was resolved favorably to our client through "baseball" arbitration

Represented disability insurance carrier in putative ERISA class action, successfully arguing that New York state law limitation on pre-existing condition provision did not apply because the choice of law provision need not be included in the Summary Plan Description, the absence of the choice of law provision in the Summary Plan Description did not prejudice the plaintiff, and even if New York law applied to the choice of law issue, New York law did not compel the application of New York substantive law. Woloshin v. Aetna Life Ins. Co., 2010 W.L. 723667 (S.D.N.Y. 2010)

Represented disability insurance carrier in putative ERISA class action, successfully arguing that plaintiff failed to exhaust remedies. Peck v. Aetna Life Ins. Co., 464 F. Supp. 2d 122 (D. Conn. 2006)