For nearly 40 years, Tom Pettinicchi has been the steady, compassionate force at the center of D’Amico Pettinicchi Injury Lawyers. His journey from a young lawyer with corporate aspirations to one of Connecticut’s most trusted personal injury attorneys is a story of authenticity, unwavering integrity and a powerful commitment to storytelling that transforms lives.
Originally, Pettinicchi imagined a career helping business leaders navigate corporate challenges. But even during high school, he felt a pull toward the law as a way to help people on a more personal level – a sense of purpose that only grew stronger as he entered practice. After law school, Pettinicchi chose to focus on family law, helping individuals and families through some of the most intimate, difficult and emotional chapters of their lives.
In those early years, Pettinicchi guided countless clients through divorce, custody battles and high-stakes family disputes. He represented husbands, wives, grandparents and children, learning to listen deeply and understand the raw human struggles behind every case. “I enjoyed being in court because I was trying to convince someone of a position I truly believed in,” he recalls. “You put everything you have into advocating for what you know is right. That’s when your work becomes meaningful.”
This experience taught Pettinicchi to be more than a lawyer – it made him a counselor and a confidant. He learned how to build trust, how to connect with people in crisis, and, perhaps most importantly, how to translate complex emotional and factual stories into clear, persuasive narratives that decision-makers could understand and embrace.
While Pettinicchi continued to handle personal injury cases alongside his family law practice, a shift began to take shape in the early 2010s. Increasing frustration with the family law system, marked by severe backlogs and delays that left clients waiting endlessly for justice, prompted him to reevaluate. “There was so much waiting,” he remembers. “You’d go to court five days a week, and half of those days you were just sitting there. Clients were frustrated. I was frustrated.”
On January 1, 2015, Pettinicchi made a decisive move: He shifted entirely to personal injury law, dedicating his practice to representing individuals harmed by catastrophic accidents, medical malpractice, nursing home abuse and other severe injuries. Supported by his partners, this transition felt like a natural evolution – a chance to put his unique courtroom skills and deep empathy to work for people whose lives had been shattered by negligence.
Pettinicchi's family law experience remains an invaluable asset. Years of arguing motions, examining evidence, presenting complex stories to judges and working with medical experts refined his instincts as a trial lawyer. “Those cases taught me to read people, to understand what matters most to them, and to present it in a way that resonates,” Pettinicchi explains. “Injury law is different in subject matter, but at its core, it’s about helping people in crisis and holding wrongdoers accountable.”
Known for his sincerity and warmth, Pettinicchi has built a reputation for “making clients feel safe in the storm,” one colleague notes. Clients describe him as “the rare lawyer whose integrity you can feel the moment he walks into the room.” His sincerity is especially palpable in front of a jury. “Jurors believe him,” one partner says. “His calm confidence pulls them in. They trust him – and they trust his clients.”
This transition felt like a natural evolution – a chance to put his unique courtroom skills and deep empathy to work for people whose lives had been shattered by negligence.
Partner Michael (“Mike”) D’Amico agrees. “Tom’s strength is a caring heart,” he says. “It’s obvious that he deeply cares about the folks he’s advocating for.” D’Amico, widely regarded for his own leadership in catastrophic injury and nursing home abuse litigation, adds that Pettinicchi's empathy is “a strategic advantage – jurors connect with him, and that connection helps them fully understand what our clients have endured.”
Jeremy D’Amico, too, plays a vital role in the firm’s distinctive dynamic. Known for his authenticity and emotional intelligence, he brings a natural rapport with clients and jurors alike. “Jeremy’s as real as they come,” D’Amico says. “He has that ability to connect with people in a way you can’t teach.” Clients often describe Jeremy D'Amico as “the lawyer who listens like a family member and fights like a seasoned advocate,” a balance that has resonated strongly in some of the firm’s highest-stakes trials.
Pettinicchi's storytelling ability is a central part of his courtroom success. Whether presenting a complicated medical case or describing a client’s life-altering injuries, Pettinicchi has a remarkable gift for turning facts into a narrative that captures jurors’ attention and imagination. “It’s about telling the story in a way that people can see and feel,” Pettinicchi says. “You want them to understand not just what happened, but what it meant for this person’s life.”
Among his notable cases is one involving a woman whose routine carpal tunnel surgery left her with a nearly paralyzed hand. Pettinicchi's preparation was so thorough, and the facts so clearly presented, that the case settled early, sparing his client the ordeal of a drawn-out trial. In another ongoing case, Pettinicchi represents a woman who suffered life-threatening complications after a routine colonoscopy resulted in two perforations. Even years later, she continues to face serious health challenges. Pettinicchi's dedication to her case is a testament to his commitment to seeing clients through the entire journey, no matter how long it takes.
'Tom’s strength is a caring heart,' [D'Amico] says. 'It’s obvious that he deeply cares about the folks he’s advocating for.'
Pettinicchi also uses the firm’s in-house mock courtroom and focus group facility as an essential strategic tool. In one striking example, he handled a case involving a mother who had partially pulled onto the highway shoulder to help her special-needs child, leaving part of her vehicle in the travel lane.
A distracted truck driver slammed into her car, flipping it and causing serious injuries. Pettinicchi used multiple focus groups to explore how jurors might assign fault between the mother and the truck driver. “It was important to understand what jurors would focus on, what they wanted to know and how they would weigh each party’s responsibility,” he explains. “That feedback shapes not only how we value the case but how we tell the story in court.”
The collaborative nature of the firm’s work is one of its defining strengths. D’Amico Pettinicchi is widely recognized for its leadership in Connecticut catastrophic injury litigation, particularly its decades-long advocacy for victims of nursing home abuse and neglect. Colleagues in the bar describe the firm as “one of the state’s most thoughtful and strategic trial teams,” known for exhaustive preparation, creativity, and an unwavering client-centered mission.
Beyond strategy and results, Pettinicchi is deeply proud of the firm’s culture – a family-like environment where many staff members have been part of the team for more than 20 years. “Everybody’s doors are always open,” Pettinicchi says. “We try to provide an atmosphere where people want to come to work and feel comfortable. That spirit of support and openness naturally extends to our clients.”
Pettinicchi is also a passionate advocate for access to justice, maintaining memberships in the Connecticut Trial Lawyers Association, the American Association for Justice and the Connecticut Bar Association. These affiliations reflect his dedication to strengthening the legal profession and supporting broader efforts to hold negligent actors accountable.
His time representing children in custody disputes remains a deeply meaningful chapter in his career.
Appointed by the court to recommend what was in the child’s best interests on issues such as physical custody, parental access, education and medical care, Tom understood the profound weight of those decisions. “I had to convince the court to do what was truly best for the child,” he says. “Those were some of the hardest cases, but also some of the most important. You learn to fight for people who can’t fight for themselves.”
Today, that same sense of mission drives his personal injury work. “It’s about helping people get the compensation they need to move on,” Pettinicchi says. “But it’s also about accountability – making sure those who harm others are held responsible. That’s what makes me get up every morning and go to the office with purpose.”
In every case, Pettinicchi brings unmatched compassion, meticulous preparation and a masterful sense of narrative. Clients feel seen and heard, and jurors see clients as human beings rather than just plaintiffs. “We’re not just lawyers; we’re human beings standing up for other human beings,” Pettinicchi says. “That’s what makes this work so fulfilling.”
