Wiggin and Dana is routinely referenced as “arguably the strongest and deepest firm in Connecticut.” While the firm certainly has a foothold on the Nutmeg State – with six offices (New Haven, Hartford, Stamford, Greenwich, Westport and Madison) here alone – it is also has a more expansive footprint that encompasses Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Washington, DC and Florida, housing a total of approximately 71 litigators. The firm is also recognized outside the state’s boundaries for its work, with appellate work on a national level and even incorporating international aspects. “Wiggin and Dana are big in the insurance world,” testifies one peer. “They represent the Hartford nationwide and they also do some work for Zurich.” Another insists, “You’ve got to respect Wiggin and Dana. They even have close ties with Cravath [Swaine and Moore]! You don’t get that kind of alliance unless you’ve got the goods.” Clients are equally taken; one testifies, “Wiggin and Dana has represented us in a major consumer class action; a series of multi-plaintiff medical injury cases; a False Claims Act investigation; a corporate governance litigation; and various art law-related disputes. They have a very talented bench of litigators. They're very good writers. They know our business very well. They're efficient.”
In addition to having national ambitions with its office expansion, the firm’s reputation is taking on these proportions as well. “Their appellate practice s nationwide,” insists a peer. Wiggin and Dana lays claim to having one of the biggest reversals and one of the biggest preservations of a judgment at the appeals level. This matter, an art law case led by New Haven’s
Jonathan Freiman, could also ostensibly bring the firm’s appellate acuity to international attention. The firm provided sole counsel to Germany and its Berlin museums by plaintiffs descended from members of a consortium of German Jewish art dealers who sold a large collection of medieval German art known to the German state of Prussia in 1935. The plaintiffs claim that the sale was not voluntary, but the result of duress owing to discrimination against German Jews in the early years of the Nazi regime. The Supreme Court granted the firm’s petition for certiorari, and Freiman argued the case. In 2021, the Supreme Court unanimously reversed an earlier DC Circuit ruling and remanded the matter for further consideration of an additional argument. Freiman ultimately prevailed in the DC Circuit in July 2023 on a renewed motion to dismiss. “Jonathan is an excellent lawyer, on par with the best litigators in the country,” asserts a client. “He offers very good strategic advice. He's an excellent, efficient writer. He's also an exemplary advocate at oral argument. I wish he had more hours in the day.”
Benamin Diessel, also based in New Haven, works as co-counsel with the aforementioned Cravath representing Epic Games, the maker of the popular videogame Fortnite, against Apple in what has been called “the World War III of antitrust” regarding the availability of Fortnite on Apple’s app store. James Glasser, the New Haven-based chair of litigation, represented FIH in pending and fiercely contested litigation involving two consolidated cases in the Connecticut Superior Court’s Complex Litigation Docket, resulting in a verdict completely in favor of Wiggin and Dana’s clients in both cases. In the first case, FIH alleged that it was wrongfully induced to invest nearly $7 million into Foundation Capital Partners LLC, a now-defunct hedge fund. In the second case, one of Foundation’s managing principals asserted 19 causes of action against FIH and its affiliates principally based on allegations that FIH attempted to steal the principal’s relationship with non-party Fortress Credit Corp. After a two-week bench trial, the court found in FIH’s favor in all respects, awarding FIH over $10 million.
