THOMAS M. FITCH

Thomas M. Fitch is a 1993 graduate of the University of California at Santa Barbara, and a 2000 graduate of Santa Barbara College of Law. Mr. Fitch was on the Dean’s Honor List as an environmental science major at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and while at law school he was on the dean’s honor list, received moot court honors for best oral argument and the American Jurisprudence Award/Scholarship.  After five years with another insurance defense firm in Santa Barbara, Mr. Fitch joined the firm in 2005 and was elevated to partner in 2008.  He has been actively involved throughout his career in both insurance coverage analysis, and the defense of civil litigation, from inception through trial.  Mr. Fitch has developed particular expertise in the handling of personal injury and property damage litigation cases, including large loss construction defect, catastrophic personal injury, and toxic tort matters.  He also has experience in the defense of design professionals, business litigation, and employment law.  Mr. Fitch has been retained directly by the Pella Corporation and its subsidiary entities for the defense of its product liability claims. In recent years, Mr. Fitch has handled many high-exposure, complex insurance coverage matters involving seven and eight figure exposures. His experience also includes litigation in coverage matters, both with policyholders (i.e., bad faith) and other insurers.