Firm News

Wiggin and Dana’s Robert M. Langer, a senior counsel in the firm’s Hartford office and co-chair of the firm’s Antitrust and Consumer Protection Practice Group, and Partner Kim E. Rinehart have co-authored the 2020-2021 Edition of “Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices, Business Torts and Antitrust,” Vol. 12 of the Connecticut Practice Series, just released by publisher Thomson Reuters.

Over the years, the scope of the book has been expanded to include an extensive treatment of business torts and the Connecticut Antitrust Act. The authors have sought to provide some insight into the relationship between CUTPA, the Federal Trade Commission Act and the unfair trade practice acts of other states, and they have made available a number of practical aids, including a model complaint, model jury instructions, a list of state statutes referencing CUTPA and charts listing the analogous statutes in each state, as well as key components of each such statute, including how each state interprets unfairness and deception.

The 2020-2021 edition, which is more than 2000 pages in length, highlights an important development regarding the breadth of the unfairness doctrine in light of the Connecticut Supreme Court’s decision in Cenatiempo v. Bank of America, N.A.; a fundamental shift in the law of tying under the Connecticut Antitrust Act in light of the Connecticut Supreme Court’s decision in The Reserve Realty, LLC v. Windemere Reserve, LLC; and a significant ruling regarding the antitrust injury requirement for standing under the Connecticut Antitrust Act in light of the Connecticut Supreme Court’s decision in Tremont Public Advisors, LLC v. Connecticut Resources Recovery Authority.

Mr. Langer co-authored the original treatise, in 1994. Co-authors are David L. Belt of the law firm of Hurwitz, Sagarin, Slossberg & Knuff LLC, and Quinnipiac University School of Law Professor Emeritus, John T. Morgan.

Mr. Langer and Ms. Rinehart extend their gratitude to their Wiggin and Dana colleagues, Ana Oman, Douglas Apicella and Lisa Weeden for their invaluable assistance.

In his practice, Mr. Langer is involved in all aspects of antitrust, consumer protection and trade regulation counseling and litigation, including class actions, representing clients in both federal and state courts, as well as before the Federal Trade Commission, the Antitrust Division of the United States Department of Justice, offices of state attorneys general and state consumer protection agencies throughout the United States.

Before joining Wiggin and Dana in 1994, Mr. Langer was the Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Antitrust and Consumer Protection Department of the Office of the Connecticut Attorney General, where for more than twenty years he litigated numerous antitrust and consumer matters in both federal and state trial and appellate courts. He received his bachelor’s degree in 1970 from Franklin & Marshall College, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and his law degree from the University of Connecticut School of Law in 1973. He served as an adjunct professor teaching constitutional, antitrust and trade regulation law at the University of Connecticut School of Business Administration, MBA Program, from 1979-2013. He now serves as an adjunct professor at the University of Connecticut School of Law teaching a course on state and federal unfair trade practice law. He also lectures and writes regularly on antitrust, consumer protection, and health care topics.

Wiggin and Dana’s Antitrust and Consumer Protection Practice Group represents clients before state and federal antitrust enforcement and consumer protection agencies and in federal and state courts throughout the country; provides counseling to clients on a full range of competition, merger and acquisition, and unfair trade practices matters; and regularly advises clients in connection with all aspects of their customer, supplier, and competitor relationships.