Benchmark Litigation

Connecticut

Review

Dispute resolution
Axinn Veltrop & Harkrider

Axinn Veltrop & Harkrider 

With offices in Hartford, New York, and Washington, DC, Axinn has established itself as a formidable force in high-stakes litigation, particularly in the areas of patent disputes, antitrust, and complex commercial matters.  

In Hartford, Matthew Becker has been at the forefront of one of the most closely watched pharmaceutical patent disputes in recent years. Representing Norwich Pharmaceuticals in its challenge against Salix Pharmaceuticals over the blockbuster drug Xifaxan, Becker navigated a case involving 26 patents and more than 460 claims. His team secured a mixed but strategic ruling, with the Federal Circuit ultimately affirming key victories in April 2024 and subsequent appeals denied. Fellow Hartford partner Ted Mathias has also steered Norwich through a decade-long dispute with global pharmaceutical leaders over baloxavir marboxil, an antiviral treatment for influenza. The outcome of this litigation carries broad implications for the flu-treatment market. In Washington, DC, Aziz Burgy secured a decisive win for Cosette Pharmaceuticals in litigation over Firvanq, a treatment for serious bacterial infections. His team achieved a favorable consent judgment covering six patents in Delaware and negotiated a settlement in New Jersey litigation. Meanwhile in New York, Denise Plunkett, head of Axinn’s litigation group, leads the firm’s antitrust practice. She is guiding Tyson Foods through billion-dollar class actions alleging price-fixing in the poultry and pork industries, co-defended major real estate entities in commission-fixing litigation and continues to defend Google in multidistrict AdTech litigation with Sherman Act and state law claims brought by leading publishers. 

 

Wiggin and Dana

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 70 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.”
     Specifically, Benjamin Diessel, who operates from New Haven and New York, is noted as “a Cravath alum,” who peers acknowledge as “a great guy and a real asset to that [Wiggin] firm. He is in that sweet spot with antitrust and tech!” Illustrating this assertion, Diessel 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. Similar actions are being litigated against Google. Diessel also works with New York-based future star Nathan Denning as lead counsel representing Aurobindo Pharma USA in a multi-district litigation in which the plaintiffs, which include putative classes, individual companies, and State Attorneys General representing virtually all US states, allege price-fixing and market-allocation conspiracies in the pricing of generic pharmaceuticals. These matters had been ongoing for several years before the Wiggin pair was engaged to take over lead counsel responsibilities from prior counsel to optimally position the case for trial.
     The appeals practice at Wiggin has taken on national-level proportions and is naturally equally well revered in Connecticut. “I really like their appellate practice,” opines a local peer. “I think that is the premier [appellate practice] in the state. It was 20 years ago, it is now.” New Haven’s Jonathan Freiman represents Elm City institution Yale University in a putative class action filed in the District of Connecticut brought by an undergraduate at Yale alleging unjust enrichment in violation of the Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act and breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing, all allegedly arising out of Yale’s transition to remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic and its use of a hybrid learning model in the 2020-2021 school year. The plaintiff initially claimed that he, and every student in all of Yale’s 14 graduate, professional and undergraduate schools, were owed refunds of the tuition that they paid during the remote-learning period. After a Wiggin team prevailed at several trial and lower-court appeals, the plaintiff appealed to the Second Circuit, which, in August 2024, affirmed summary judgment for Yale.

 

Labor and employment
Pullman & Comley

Pullman & Comley is a full-service firm with five offices serving the state of Connecticut The firm has a strong reputation in litigation, including a solid labor and employment practice. A local peer gives credence to this: “Pullman is really good. I think they’re solid.” Employment litigation at the firm involves all types of claims, as well as single-plaintiff and multi-plaintiff disputes. Joshua Hawks-Ladds is co-chair of the labor, employment law and employee benefits department at the firm. Over the last year, he has assisted several clients in litigation regarding terminations of high-level management. He represented a major social media company following the termination of its CFO as well as a major hedge fund in the termination of its CEO. In addition to private clients, he also recently assisted a police department that terminated an officer for violations.