Services
Bob is recognized as one of the countryโs foremost authorities on antitrust, consumer protection, and trade regulation law. He possesses unparalleled experience in counseling, litigation, and regulatory investigations in the field, and he is co-author of the definitive treatise on unfair trade practices and antitrust legal practice.
A Senior Counsel in the firmโs Litigation Department and Co-chair of the firmโs Antitrust and Technology Disputes Practice Group, Bobโs experience includes class actions and representing clients in both federal and state courts and before the Federal Trade Commission, the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), and offices of state attorneys general and state consumer protection agencies throughout the U.S.
Bob leverages more than two decades of experience as the Assistant Attorney General in charge of antitrust and consumer protection in Connecticut, where he litigated numerous antitrust and consumer matters in federal and state trial and appellate courts. His more than four decades of accomplishments have earned him a host of prestigious accolades, including
- A Lifetime Achievement Award from the Connecticut Bar Associationโs Antitrust and Trade Regulation Section.
- Theย Medal of Excellenceย from the University of Connecticut Law School Alumni Association, the 11th recipient in 40 years.
- Aย Distinguished Legal Writing Awardย from the Burton Awards, granted to 35 authors from more than 1,000 submitting firms.
- A Marvin Award from the National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG).
- An outstanding service award from the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection.
- Two awards from the ABA Antitrust Law Section, one in 2012, and an Outstanding Performance Award in 2021, for his leadership role in both creating and administering the Janet D. Steiger Fellowship Project, which itself was the recipient of the ABAโs Meritorious Service Award in 2018.
Bob is a Charter Fellow and former Chair of the James W. Cooper Fellows Program of the Connecticut Bar Foundation, and a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation. He was named Best Lawyersโ antitrust lawyer of the year for Hartford on several occasions.
Prior to joining Wiggin and Dana in 1994, Bob participated in more than 20 cases in the Connecticut Supreme Court and the Connecticut Appellate Court, including the first decisions under both the Connecticut Antitrust Act (in a 1975 case) and the Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act (CUTPA) in a 1981 case. He has also assisted in drafting important amendments for both statutes.
Additionally, Bob has participated in numerous cases in the U.S. Supreme Court, including Leegin v. PSKS (2007), which, with the aid of an amicus brief on behalf of PING, co-authored by Bob, overturned a century-old precedent related to vertical price fixing; Hartford Fire v. California (1993), one of the most significant McCarran-Ferguson decisions in our nationโs history, in which Bob represented The State of Connecticut; Ohio v. AMEX (2018), in which Bob co-authored an amicus brief on behalf of two highly regarded antitrust economists in perhaps the most important antitrust decision rendered by the Court in a decade involving how courts should evaluate two-sided markets under the antitrust laws; and, most recently, Connecticut Fine Wine and Spirits, LLC, dba Total Wine & More v. Seagull (2020), where Bob served as Counsel of Record for the intervening defendants, in fending off a cert petition in which the plaintiff/petitioner had unsuccessfully challenged the constitutionally of several Connecticut liquor pricing laws.
In September 2005, at the behest ofย the Congressional Antitrust Modernization Commission, Bob was one of three participants to testify on the subject of the state action immunity doctrine.
From 1990 to 1992, Bob served as Chair of the NAAG Multistate Antitrust Task Force. NAAG established the now commonplace model of multistate attorney general cooperation in consumer protection. That model was born with Bobโs and othersโ work in the 1970s to forge a landmark agreement with General Motors for secretly installing Chevrolet engines in Oldsmobiles.
Bob has participated in numerous pro bono initiatives, including the Fair Factories Clearinghouse (FFC), which, after Bob helped FFC obtain a successful Business Review Letter from the Antitrust Division of the DOJ, now shares documented data about wages and working conditions in foreign manufacturing settings. He also successfully obtained Advisory Opinions from the Federal Trade Commission to enable healthcare nonprofits to pass savings on to their employees and others. Asย Chair of theย Cooper Fellows, he helped launch a program to capture the oral histories of pioneering women in the law in Connecticut.
Bob lectures and writes regularly on antitrust, consumer protection, and healthcare topics. Bob is the co-author of Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices, Business Torts and Antitrust, the foremost treatise on the topic, which is now approaching 2000 pages, updated every year, and intended for Connecticut judges, lawyers, and academicians. His op-ed articles have appeared in The New York Times andย The Hartford Courant.
Every year since 1979, Bob has taught courses as an adjunct professor that include antitrust, unfair and deceptive trade practices and constitutional law at the University of Connecticut School of Business Administrationโs MBA Program (1979-2013) and the University of Connecticut School of Law (2014-present). Bob now also teaches courses as an adjunct professor on both antitrust law and unfair and deceptive trade practices law at the Quinnipiac University School of Law. Bob obtained his J.D. from the University of Connecticut School of Law and his A.B. from Franklin & Marshall College. Bob was admitted to practice in 1973.
Education
- University of Connecticut School of Law (J.D., 1973)
- Franklin & Marshall College (A.B., 1970)
Bar Admissions
Court Admissions
Memberships and Affiliations
Awards and Recognitions
Services
News
Services
Publications
Services
Events
Experience
Trial and Appellate Decisions Argued and/or Briefed
Index
- Mobil Oil Corp. v. Killian, 30 Conn. Supp. 87 (1973)
- State of New Jersey v. General Motors,ย 419 U.S. 1080 (1974)
- Mazzola v. Southern New England Tele. Co., 169 Conn. 344 (1975)
- Ajello v. Htfd. Fed. Savings and Loan, 32 Conn. Supp. 198 (1975)
- Heslin v. The Liberty Bank for Savings, 1977-1 Trade Cas. (CCH) 61,311 (Conn. Court of Common Pleas 1977)
- Naylor v. Case and McGrath, 585 F. 2d 557 (2nd Cir. 1978)
- Caldorโs, Inc. v. Bedding Barn, Inc., 177 Conn. 304 (1979)
- State v. Hossan-Maxwell, Inc. , 181 Conn. 655 (1980)
- New Eng. Accessories Trade Assoc., Inc. v. Browne, 502 F. Supp. 1245 (D. Conn. 1980)
- Serlin Wine and Spirit Merchants v. Healy, 512 F. Supp. 936 (D. Conn. 1981)
- Shea v. First Federal Savings and Loan Assoc., 184 Conn. 285 (1981)
- Hinchliffe v. American Motors Corp., 184 Conn. 607 (1981)
- Morgan v. Div. of Liquor Control, 664 F. 2d 353 (2nd Cir. 1981)
- In re Grand Jury Investigation v. Cuisinartโs, Inc., 665 F. 2d 24 (2nd Cir. 1981)
- U.S. Brewers Assโn, Inc. v. Healy, 532 F. Supp. 1312 (D. Conn. 1982)
- Union Labor Life Ins. Co. v. Pireno, 458 U.S. 119 (1982)
- U. S. Brewers Association v. Healy, 692 F. 2d 275 (2nd Cir. 1982)
- Illinois v. Abbott and Associates, Inc., 460 U.S. 557 (1983)
- Ivey, Barnum & OโMara v. Indian Harbor Prop., Inc., 190 Conn. 528 (1983)
- Heslin v. CT Law Clinic of Trantolo & Trantolo, 190 Conn. 510 (1983)
- Obeda v. CT Bd. of Reg. for Professional, 570 F. Supp. 1007 (D. Conn. 1983)
- Conway v. Prestia, 191 Conn. 484 (1983)
- Monsanto Co. v. Spray-Rite Service Corp., 465 U.S. 752 (1984)
- McLaughlin Ford, Inc. v. Ford Motor Co., 192 Conn. 558 (1984)
- Waterbury Petroleum Products v. Canaan Oil & Fuel, 193 Conn. 208 (1984)
- Copperweld Corp. v. Independence Tube Corp, 467 U.S. 752 (1984)
- Lieberman v. F.T.C., 598 F. Supp. 669 (D. Conn. 1984)
- Mattox v. F.T.C., 752 F. 2d 116 (5th Cir. 1985)
- Town of Hallie v. City of Eau Claire, 471 U.S. 34 (1985)
- Lieberman v. F.T.C., 771 F. 2d 32 (2nd Cir. 1985)
- Mead v. Burns, 199 Conn. 651 (1986)
- E.I.S, Inc. v. CT Bd. of Reg. for Prof. Eng. and Land Surveyors, 200 Conn. 145 (1986)
- Russell v. Dean Witter Reynolds, Inc., 200 Conn. 172 (1986)
- Motor Vehicle Mfrs. Assโn v. OโNeill, 203 Conn. 63 (1987)
- White Oak Corp. v. Dept. of Cons. Pro, 12 Conn. App. 251 (1987)
- Bus. Elect. Corp. v. Sharp Elect. Corp., 485 U.S. 717 (1988)
- Allied Tube and Conduit Corp. v. Indian Head, Inc., 486 U.S. 492 (1988)
- Commissioner of Consumer Protection v. F.O.I.C., 207 Conn. 698 (1988)
- Eamiello v. Liberty Mobile Homes Sales, Inc., 208 Conn. 620 (1988)
- Daddona v. Liberty Mobile Home Sales, Inc., 209 Conn. 243 (1988)
- Gibbs v. Southeastern Investment Corp., 705 F. Supp. 738 (D. Conn. 1989)
- Chrysler Corp. v. Maiocco, 209 Conn. 579 (1989)
- DuBaldo v. Dept. of Con. Protection, State Elect. Work Ex. Bd., 209 Conn. 719 (1989)
- California v. ARC America Corp., 490 U.S. 93 (1989)
- Craftsman, Inc. v. Young, 18 Conn. App. 463 (1989)
- Motor Vehicle Mfrs. Assโn of U.S. v. OโNeill, 212 Conn. 83 (1989)
- Remington Prod., Inc. v. N. A. Phillips Corp., 717 F. Supp. 36 (D. Conn. 1989)
- Lieberman v. Reliable Refuse Co., Inc., 212 Conn. 661 (1989)
- General Motors Corp. v. Martine, 213 Conn. 136 (1989)
- Connelly v. Housing Auth. City of New Haven, 213 Conn. 354 (1990)
- California v. American Stores Co., 495 U.S. 271 (1990)
- A. Secondino & Sons, Inc. v. LoRicco, 215 Conn. 336 (1990)
- Sidney v. DeVries, 215 Conn. 350 (1990)
- Texaco Inc. v. Hasbrouck, 496 U.S. 543 (1990)
- Caldor, In. v. Heslin, 215 Conn. 590 (1990), cert. denied U.S. Supreme Court)
- State v. Leary, 217 Conn. 404 (1991)
- Summit Health, Ltd. v. Pinhas, 550 U.S. 322 (1991)
- Morales v. Trans World Airlines, 504 U.S. 374 (1992)
- Eastman Kodak Co. v. Image Technical Services, Inc., 504 U.S. 451 (1992)
- Toy Mfrs. of America, Inc. v. Blumenthal, 986 F. 2d. 615 (2nd Cir. 1993)
- State of Conn. ex. rel. Blumenthal v. Tobacco Valley Sanitation, 818 F. Supp. 504 (D. Conn. 1993)
- Hartford Fire Ins. Co. v. California, 509 U.S. 764 (1993)
- Associated Inv. Co. Ltd Partnership v. Williams Assoc., 230 Conn. 148 (1994)
- Normand Josef Enterprises, Inc. v. CT Natโl Bank, 230 Conn. 486 (1994)
- Dadiskos v. Connecticut Real Estate Comโn, 37 Conn. App. 777 (1995)
- Waterford Parkade, Inc. v. Picardi, 1996-1 Trade Cas. (CCH) ยถ71,348 (Conn. Super. Ct. 1996)
- Vacco v. Microsoft Corp., 260 Conn. 59 (2002)
- MM Global Services, Inc. v. Dow Chemical Co., 238 F. Supp. 689 (D. Conn. 2003)
- MedValUSA Health Programs, Inc. v. MemberWorks, Inc., 273 Conn. 634 (2005)
- Leegin Creative Leather Products, Inc. v. PSKS, Inc., 551 U.S. 877 (2007)
- Brown and Brown, Inc. v. Blumenthal, 297 Conn. 710 (2010)
- Neighborhood Builders, Inc. v. Town of Madison, 142 Conn. App. 326 (2013)
- Artieโs Auto Body, Inc. v. Hartford Fire Ins. Co., 317 Conn. 602 (2015)
- Ohio v. American Express Company, 138 S. Ct. 2274 (2018)
- Connecticut Fine Wine and Spirits, LLC, dba Total Wine & More v. Seagull, 916 F.3d 160 (2d Cir. 2/20/19, amended 7/29/19), affโg 225 F. Supp. 3d 355 (D. Conn. 6/6/17), cert. denied (U.S. Supreme Court 4/6/20)
- Glover v. Bausch & Lomb, Incorporated, 343 Conn. 513 (2022)
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