International Expansion: Where Do I Start?

On January 17, 2019, the Connecticut Supreme Court issued an important decision on governmental immunity for Connecticut municipalities. In Ventura v. Town of East Haven, an appeal handled for the Town by Aaron Bayer and Tadhg Dooley of Wiggin and Dana, LLP, the Supreme Court affirmed an Appellate Court decision reversing a $6.2 million judgment against East Haven. The judgment was based on a police officer's failure to tow a vehicle that had invalid registration and the wrong license plates. That vehicle subsequently struck the plaintiff, causing him serious injuries. The trial court had held that the Town was not protected by governmental immunity, because the police officer had a “ministerial duty” to tow the vehicle based on police department towing rules. A jury awarded the plaintiff $12.2 million, which was later reduced to $6.2 million. In reversing, the Appellate Court held that the towing rules did not impose a ministerial duty on police officers and the Town was therefore entitled to governmental immunity.

Wiggin and Dana is pleased to announce the promotions of four new Partners effective January 1, 2019. We are proud to congratulate the following attorneys who will be promoted to Partner:

• Benjamin H. Diessel
• Tadhg Dooley
• Jody Erdfarb
• Michael J. Lipp

Wiggin and Dana is proud to announce that Benchmark Litigation 2019 ranked seven Wiggin and Dana Partners "Local Litigation Stars" and five Partners as "Future Stars".

Wiggin and Dana is pleased to announce that Kevin Carroll has joined the firm as a Litigation Partner in the White Collar Defense, Investigations and Corporate Compliance practice group in the Washington, DC office. Mr. Carroll is a skilled litigator with experience advising the White House, a Cabinet member, CEOs, a congressional committee chairman and generals. Mr. Carroll’s practice will focus on representing corporations and individuals in white collar defense, internal investigations, Congressional investigations and corporate compliance matters.      

Wiggin and Dana Partners, Robert Benjamin and Helen Heintz, have authored an article in the New York Law Journal regarding their victory in the matter of the Estate of Evelyn Seiden, resulting in the refund of approximately half a million dollars of New York Estate taxes imposed on the QTIP trust that was established by her husband’s will following his death in 2010.