Bethany L. Barrese Partner

Bethany Barrese is a trusted advisor and accomplished litigator representing policyholders in a wide variety of industries, including commercial real estate, construction, higher education, power and energy, hospitality, and more.  She helps clients recover on their insurance claims under all types of policies, including commercial general liability, commercial property, builder’s risk, professional liability, errors and omissions, educator’s legal liability, cyber risk, environmental pollution, and captive policies.

Bethany provides a full suite of insurance coverage services to her policyholder clients.  She works with clients to review their existing insurance programs, recommend enhancements, and develop innovative solutions to common coverage issues.  Bethany has extensive experience with risk transfer and frequently helps her clients craft contractual indemnity and insurance provisions to minimize their risk exposure.  When a claim does occur, Bethany offers support and guidance to clients on all aspects of the claim process, from submission through dispute resolution.

Bethany excels in meticulously assessing insurance policies and zealously advocating on behalf of her clients. Her litigation practice has successfully resolved coverage disputes at both the trial and appellate level. Some of her most noteworthy cases include the appeal of Nash Street, LLC v. Main Street America Assurance Co., which established a significant policyholder-friendly judicial precedent under Connecticut law, and the resolution of complex coverage issues involving post-9/11 World Trade Center first responder injury claims.  Bethany frequently obtains multi-million-dollar recoveries for her clients under first party property and business interruption claims for corporate clients, and has successfully litigated dozens of complex multi-party risk transfer disputes.

Bethany is actively engaged in industry outreach and is a sought-after speaker on insurance coverage issues. Her experience includes teaching the “Insurance Litigation” course for the University of Connecticut Law School’s LLM program in Insurance Law.

Bethany is part of SDV’s Northeast team and serves on both the firm’s Executive Committee and Management Committee. A Connecticut native, Bethany established the firm’s New Jersey office in 2017, where she resides with her husband and two children.