Richard H. Raphael, Attorney at Law, practices in family law, personal injury, and litigation in the Westport, Connecticut area. He prides himself in providing personalized, professional representation to all of his clients. Mr. Raphael has practiced in Connecticut since 1979, first in New Canaan and since 1991 in his own firm in Westport. While in New Canaan, he enjoyed a term as president of the New Canaan Bar Association. Currently he is a member of the Connecticut Bar Association and the American Bar Association.Mr. Raphael completed his undergraduate education in 1976 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from the University of Pennsylvania. He received his J.D. (law degree) from Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C., and was admitted to the Connecticut Bar in 1979. Since that time, he has been practicing in Connecticut primarily in family law, and other litigation including personal injury and commercial litigation.Mr. Raphael prides himself on is his personal approach to representation. He provides his clients with individual, one-on-one attention.Mr. Raphael offers a free initial consultation, to answer your questions, discuss the issues of your case, and explain the relevant law.

Prior to joining the firm in 2000, Scott E. Perry clerked for U.S. District Judge T.F. Gilroy Daly in the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut and was a litigator at Robinson & Cole, one of Connecticut’s oldest and largest law firms. Scott graduated from Brown University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science (where he was a linebacker on the varsity football team) and obtained his law degree from the University of Connecticut School of Law. Scott is licensed to practice law before the state and federal courts in Connecticut and New York.

Donald is orginally from Chicago, Illinois. He is 2003 graduate of Mississippi State University (MSU). He received his Masters in Public Policy Administration from MSU in 2005, and went on to earn his law degree from the University of Wyoming College of Law in 2009. Donald's practice areas are criminal defense, including felonies, misdemeanors, DWIs and other motor vehicle violations. Donald is also contract public defender for the state of Connecticut, where he handles child support contempt defense and modifications. He also has experience handling personal injury matters, including motor vehicle accidents and slip-and-falls. He is admitted to practice before the Connecticut state courts as well as the U.S. District Court, District of Connecticut, and Connecticut's Bankruptcy Courts. Donald is a member of the Cawford Bar Association, and Connecticut Bar Association. Donald's hybrid barbershop/ law office, "Legal Cuts" has been featured by several news organizations including the Connecticut Law Tribune, NPR (radio), The American Bar Association, and The New Britain Herald.

Prior to founding our law firm, George was a fifth-generation railroad worker. During his high school days, George began working summer jobs on the New Haven Railroad as a clerk, trackman, laborer, and caboose inspector. In 1968, George volunteered for the United States Marine Corps and trained at Parris Island and Camp Lejeune. From 1968 to 1970 he served as a corporal in the Marines, including a tour of duty in the Republic of Vietnam as a combat rifleman where he was awarded a Purple Heart. After the Marines, George returned to work full-time on the railroad while also attending college and law school. During his college years, George worked for Penn Central in the New Haven crew callers office, as a block operator at Devon Tower, a brakeman at the New Haven East Class Yard, a skate man at the New Haven Eastbound Hump, a road freight brakeman on jobs to Selkirk and Maybrook, and then as a passenger trainman on the New Haven Shoreline Division. In his spare time George was an amateur boxer with over 60 fights in AAU (Amateur Athletic Union) matches and in the New York City and Massachusetts Golden Glove tournaments. In 1973, he was selected for a national AAU team as a middleweight. While in law school, George continued working for the railroad. He worked on a local freight at night from Framingham to Lowell and then started working as a passenger trainman on the Franklin and Needham branches during the weekdays. On the weekends, he also worked as a conductor on the mainline from South Station to Penn Station in New York City. During George’s first years as an attorney from 1977 to 1978, he continued working as a passenger conductor on Conrail’s Metropolitan Region between New Haven and Grand Central Terminal. George’s career as a railroad employee ended on November 9, 1978. That was the day he won a federal court FELA (Federal Employers’ Liability Act) jury verdict of $600,000 against Conrail on behalf of a fellow Conrail conductor. That night George worked his usual conductor job between New Haven and New York’s Grand Central Terminal with his co-workers celebrating his great victory (the $600,000 verdict was record-breaking at that time). The next morning George received a call from Conrail’s General Superintendent informing him that he was fired for “disloyalty.” The superintendent told George that Conrail’s top managers in Philadelphia were almost more upset about the fact he earned his $60 in conductor wages during that night of celebration than the $600,000 verdict Conrail would have to pay. George is admitted to the bars of Connecticut, New York, Massachusetts, and Washington, D.C.

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.

James M. Harrington is a Connecticut-based, board-certified civil trial attorney who has dedicated his career to fighting for those injured due to negligence. With a practice focused entirely on personal injury and wrongful death litigation across the state of Connecticut, James brings more than a decade of experience, a proven record in the courtroom, and deep local roots to every case he takes. Born and raised in southeastern Connecticut, James’s connection to the community runs deep. His father owned and operated The Wayfarer in New London for over 35 years, and James spent much of his youth in and around New London and Waterford. Today, James continues to serve his home state with pride, representing clients in towns and cities across eastern and central Connecticut.

Amanda J. DiFrancesca is an associate attorney of Polito & Harrington. Amanda joined the firm after clerking for a criminal defense firm, where she helped to serve incarcerated clients. Amanda is the youngest of two children, born and raised in Preston, Connecticut. Amanda graduated from the University of Connecticut and went on to receive her master’s degree in social work from Southern Connecticut State University, where she studied client counseling and social justice. She graduated from Quinnipiac University School of Law, magna cum laude, in 2024. At Quinnipiac, Amanda received the Distinguished Academic Achievement in Constitutional Law, Best Appellee’s Brief: 2022 Dean Terence H. Benbow Intramural Competition, and Cornelius W. Wickersham Jr. awards. She served on the e-board of the Quinnipiac Health Law Journal and competed on the Moot Court Honor Society team. Throughout law school, Amanda served in the Quinnipiac University Civil Justice Clinic, where she helped to draft habeas corpus petitions and worked on compassionate release law reform. She also gained experience interning for a personal injury firm, where she drafted settlement breakdowns and worked with medical providers to obtain reductions for clients. In her spare time, Amanda enjoys reading and being outdoors.

Joseph T. Coppola II is Polito & Harrington’s newest associate, joining the firm after working at a Fortune 500 insurance company, where he handled employment matters all across the United States, including cases involving discrimination, sexual harassment, retaliation, and wrongful termination. Joe is the oldest of five children, born and raised in Madison, Connecticut. Joe is a graduate of Bryant University and Roger Williams University School of Law. At Roger Williams, Joe was awarded academic scholarships during each of his three years at the school based on academic merit. Joe also received recognition from the Feinstein Center for outstanding commitment to pro bono legal service, having performed over 100 pro-bono service hours within the community during his time in law school. In addition to his involvement within the school, Joe was fortunate enough to gain a great deal of experience through internships in his spare time. Joe served as a legal intern for the Rhode Island Department of Revenue, the Rhode Island Office of the General Treasurer, and as a law clerk for a firm focused on cases involving personal injury, products liability, and premises liability. During his third year in law school, Joe was accepted into two competitive programs which promote experiential education; The Roger Williams Business Start-up Clinic and the Corporate Counsel Externship Program. At the Business Start-up Clinic, Joe was one of only two students who worked at the clinic as an advanced student practitioner with a temporary license from the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Joe not only gained valuable experience in advising and assisting clients with entity formation issues, contracts, articles of incorporation, trademark applications, as well as applications to form 501-(c)(3) corporations, but he also maintained a role as a supervisor and advisor to other clinic members and assisted them with their respective clients. In addition to his work with the Business Start-up Clinic, Joe simultaneously participated in Roger Williams’ Corporate Counsel Externship program, where he was offered a externship position in the legal department at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Rhode Island under the company’s general counsel. Joe gained valuable exposure to the healthcare industry, medical claims, and general insurance knowledge that to this day allows him to better serve his clients who may be suffering from life changing injuries. Today, Joe proudly represents clients who have been injured in personal injury, wrongful death, products liability, and medical malpractices cases, both in Connecticut State Court and in the Tribal Courts for Connecticut’s two casinos, Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods. In his spare time, Joe enjoys hiking, camping, archery, and restoring musical instruments.