Attorney Profiles

Denise Martino Phelan Attorney Phelan has been a member of the Connecticut bar for over 27 years. She was admitted to the Connecticut bar and the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut in 1980. She was admitted to the United States Circuit Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in 1985 and the United States Supreme Court in 1988. She obtained her Bachelor of Arts Summa Cum Laude from Boston College in 1976. She is a member of Phi Beta Kappa. She obtained her Doctorate of Jurisprudence from the University of Connecticut in 1980. In 1992, Attorney Phelan was selected by the judges of the Superior Court to serve as a member of the Connecticut Bar Examining Committee. In that role, she regularly serves as a hearing officer with regard to character and fitness matters. In 2006, she was invited to serve a three-year term on the Multi-State Professional Responsibility Examination Committee of the National Conference of Bar Examiners. She was appointed by the chief court administrator to serve as a fact finder/arbitrator in 1998 and has continued to serve in that role through the present time. In 2006, Attorney Phelan was selected as one of the top five percent of attorneys in Connecticut by Connecticut Magazine. In June of 2007, she was selected for inclusion in the inaugural issue of New England Super Lawyers Magazine, featuring the top five percent of attorneys in New England in the area of personal injury defense. Attorney Phelan has an A-V rating from Martindale Hubbell.

Attorney Phelan specializes in all aspects of civil litigation. Her practice has concentrated in insurance defense work. Much of that work has involved commercial and general liability claims, construction defects and accidents, municipal law, civil rights violations, sexual misconduct and medical malpractice. The insureds have been owners and operators of motor vehicles, construction companies, municipalities, boards of education, police departments and their administrators, and employees, hospitals, nursing homes and physicians. She has regularly appeared in state and federal court since 1980. She has successfully advocated on behalf of our clients and their insurers before the Connecticut Supreme Court, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, and the United States Supreme Court.