Andrea Donovan Napp is a member of the firm's Litigation Section, where she focuses her practice on complex commercial litigation, business torts, and market conduct cases, representing businesses, municipalities, and individuals in various jurisdictions.
Ms. Napp has tried matters to verdict in state and federal courts, and she has represented corporate clients in business litigation cases dealing with contracts, trade regulation, fraud, and intellectual property issues. Notably, she was part of the litigation team that successfully defended the Town of West Hartford against several concurrent lawsuits in state and federal court designed to forestall the development of Blue Back Square, a multiuse development project in the town center. Subsequently, Ms. Napp represented the town in its vexatious litigation suit arising out of those matters, which resulted in the town's recoupment of all defense costs.
Ms. Napp's litigation practice also focuses on disputes arising in the context of commercial construction projects and related industrial activities. Ms. Napp has represented building contractors and subcontractors in complex, multiparty disputes in state and federal court, as well as in arbitration and/or mediation. Her recent experiences involve higher education construction disputes, landfill closures, and the Big Dig tunnel project in Boston.
Ms. Napp serves on the firm's Hiring Committee. Prior to joining the firm, she clerked for the Honorable Christine S. Vertefeuille of the Connecticut Supreme Court.
Professional Associations
- American Bar Association, Section of Litigation, Pretrial Practice & Discovery Committee
- Connecticut Bar Association
- New York State Bar Association
- Connecticut Women's Council
Experience
- Collected, reviewed, and produced over two million pages of documents, consisting primarily of e-mails from over 35 custodians, as part of defense of insurer in class action alleging unfair business practices related to payment of claims.
- In conjunction with a vexatious litigation action against an international developer, collected, reviewed and produced ESI and paper materials related to 12 underlying lawsuits. Additionally, utilized Concordance to organize and conduct review and analysis of electronic data received from other parties for use in over 30 depositions.
- In conjunction with patent action being litigated concurrently in several jurisdictions, conducted review of several terabytes of data on behalf of Fortune 500 client.
- Utilizing a team of 45 attorneys working in Relativity software, reviewed and analyzed over 100,000 documents for privilege in connection with a Department of Justice's Second Request relating to a significant merger by a Fortune 500 company. Ultimately, generated a 17,000 entry privilege log that was accepted without challenge by the Department of Justice.
Class Action
- Obtained dismissal of all claims against the State of Connecticut in a constitutional takings class action brought by state employees claiming entitlement to the proceeds of the demutualization of the state's health care insurance carriers.
Complex Commercial Disputes
- Represented municipality in a lawsuit alleging anticompetitive conduct and vexatious litigation arising out of an international developer's campaign to forestall the construction of a competing mixed-use development.
- Defended insurer in over thirty concurrent lawsuits brought by a unified group of repair facilities challenging the carrier's auto glass claims payment practices. The matters were resolved through global settlement.
- Defended Swedish manufacturer of musical instruments in a civil action in federal court in Florida. The plaintiff claimed to have been our client's exclusive U.S. distributor and that our client's decision to terminate the parties' relationship was improper. The plaintiff sought in excess of $1 million in damages. The matter was resolved by settlement.
Intellectual Property Litigation
- Currently defending ticketing software company against allegations of patent infringement in a multiparty action pending in the Eastern District of Texas involving a dispute over patents issued for Web-based seat selection technology.
- Defended owner and co-inventor of several patents-in-suit by former business partner alleging mismanagement of the intellectual property to the detriment of the partnership.
- Represented graphic design corporation in an action against former employees, former owners, and competitor involving claims under the Connecticut Trade Secrets Act and the Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act stemming from the sale of the business and certain intellectual property. The matter was resolved by a multiparty settlement.
Trial
- Defended national retailer in three-week jury trial in state court. The plaintiff claimed that he suffered a devastating traumatic brain injury after slipping and falling on defendant's premises and sought over $5 million in damages. The jury returned a verdict for the plaintiff, but awarded only $800,000.
- Obtained jury verdict in favor of defendant business owner accused of sexual harassment in federal court.
- Obtained favorable settlement for banking institution after two-day bench trial on conversion claims. Settlement was broached after successful cross-examination of the Plaintiff.
- Conducted two-week arbitration of environmental claims, employment claims, CUTPA claims, and breach of contract claims arising out of the sale of a scrap metal processing facility.
News
11.22.11, Robinson & Cole Announces Counsel Promotions