Patricia B. Santelle Partner

Patti Santelle is recognized by her clients and peers as a leading attorney in the field of complex insurance coverage.  She has devoted the last 20 years to the representation of insurance company clients in matters involving asbestos, environmental, toxic tort and long-tail claims.  She is known for her depth of experience, responsiveness, drive and ability to craft solutions for her clients, whether they are in litigation or not.  Patti thoroughly understands the needs of her insurer clients. 

Patti’s practice includes the prosecution and defense of insurers in coverage actions in state and federal courts around the country as well as alternative dispute resolution proceedings.  She also negotiates the resolution of disputed coverage claims and counsels insurance company clients on claims litigation strategy, claims resolution procedures and coverage questions. 

While she is an experienced litigator, Patti’s practice is not limited to litigation.  She devotes a substantial portion of her practice to counseling her clients outside the context of litigation.  Patti also a frequent speaker at industry seminars and conducts in-house training seminars for her clients.   

In addition to leading the Commercial Litigation Department, which consists of more than 70 attorneys in six offices, and the Insurance Coverage and Bad Faith Group, which consists of approximately 20 attorneys in four offices, Patti is a member of the firm’s Executive and Compensation Committees.  

While in law school, Patti was President of the Student Bar Association, winner (overall and best brief) of the Hunter Advanced Moot Court Competition and a member of the school’s National Moot Court Team.  After graduation, she served as Judicial Clerk to the Honorable Daniel J. O'Hern, Associate Justice, Supreme Court of New Jersey, and an associate with the Morristown, New Jersey firm of Pitney, Hardin Kipp & Szuch.  She joined White and Williams in 1990.

Patti is a former member and Past Chair of the District IV Ethics Committee in New Jersey and has been twice appointed by the Supreme Court of New Jersey to serve as a Special Master on complex ethics proceedings in New Jersey.  She is a 20-year member and Past Chancellor of the Board of the Rutgers-Camden Law Alumni Association.  In 2010, Patti was given the Scarlet Oak Meritorious Service Award by Rutgers University for her contributions as an alumni leader and student mentor at the Rutgers-Camden School of Law.

Representative Matters

• For the past 10 years, serves as lead counsel for a  group of insurers who are signatories to the landmark “Wellington Agreement"; representation has involved handling multiple phases of alternative dispute resolution adverse to major asbestos producers who also signed the Wellington Agreement and, in most instances, brought about  creative, cost-effective solutions to what has otherwise been described as a crisis in litigation in this country
• Serves as lead counsel for insurer clients in dozens of complex disputes involving hazardous waste sites around the country; adversaries have included a number of Fortune 500 companies
• Tried multiple coverage cases, including serving as lead counsel in a two-month bench trial involving the largest waste management company in North America 

Recognition & Involvement

Since 2005, Patti has been selected in a survey of her peers as a Pennsylvania "Super Lawyer" by Law & Politics magazine. 

In addition to her involvement in her law school alumni group, Patti is President of the Board of Trustees of the C. Wallace Stuard Sailing Foundation and a Board Member of the Corinthian Yacht Club of Cape May.