Theresa A. Guertin

Theresa A. Guertin is a nationally recognized advocate for policyholders in complex insurance coverage disputes and high-stakes litigation. She represents clients in matters involving virtually every line of insurance coverage, advising businesses on risk management, insurance recovery, coverage strategy, and contractual risk transfer. Theresa regularly leads sophisticated, multi-party coverage litigation arising from construction, pharmaceutical, manufacturing, and other complex commercial matters, including some of the firm’s most significant disputes.

In addition to her litigation practice, Theresa has extensive experience drafting and negotiating insurance procurement requirements and contractual risk transfer provisions for construction and commercial clients. She works closely with contractors, owners, and insurance brokers to identify coverage gaps, strengthen insurance programs, and negotiate favorable policy terms, helping clients proactively manage risk and minimize exposure before disputes arise.

Theresa is the co-author, along with Partner Tracy Alan Saxe, of the Thomson Reuters treatise Insurance Coverage of Construction Disputes, a leading resource in construction and insurance law. She is also a frequent speaker on insurance coverage, contractual risk transfer, and litigation strategy.

A dedicated leader within both the legal profession and her firm, Theresa serves as Co-President of the Lawyers Collaborative for Diversity and leads SDV Fenchurch’s BRIDGE Committee, which advances the firm’s diversity, inclusion, and community engagement initiatives. She previously served as Managing Partner of SDV Fenchurch’s Connecticut office from 2020 to 2023 and was a member of the firm’s Management Committee from 2023 to 2024. She is also a past Chair of the Connecticut Bar Association’s Insurance Law Section.

Outside the office, Theresa enjoys participating in community theatre and resides in Oxford, Connecticut, with her husband, son, and an ever-growing array of animals.

Theresa maintains an active litigation practice, representing clients in claims arising out of construction defects, bodily injury lawsuits, mergers and acquisitions, life insurance policy cancellations, and more. She has litigated cases involving numerous types of insurance policies, including commercial general liability and excess liability, directors and officers, professional, pollution, builder’s risk, commercial property, life insurance, equipment breakdown coverage, automobile, and homeowner’s insurance. Most recently, Theresa has focused on helping contractor and broker clients evaluate coverage placement and renewal strategy in a hardening insurance market, drawing on her litigation experience to anticipate how policy language will be interpreted if a claim arises.