Meghana Shah is an associate in the firm's Litigation Section. Ms. Shah concentrates her civil litigation practice on complex commercial litigation, including business torts, class action, legal malpractice, admiralty and maritime, and products liability cases, representing businesses and individuals in both state and federal courts. She regularly represents clients in cases involving claims of breach of contract, fraud, unfair trade practices, professional negligence, and violations of products liability statutes.
Most recently, Ms. Shah was part of a trial team representing an oil transportation company in defense of an environmental class action trial in Massachusetts state court, one of the very few class action trials resulting from an environmental incident. The case involved claims for property damage resulting from an oil spill in Buzzards Bay in 2003. The class was made up of approximately 1,000 residents from the Town of Mattapoisett who alleged their shoreline property was oiled as a result of the spill. The March 2010 trial, which lasted two weeks, addressed the claims of eight individual class members. The jury ultimately awarded a very favorable result for the client. The results of these initial cases ultimately provided the parties with a basis to resolve the remaining claims.
Ms. Shah was also part of a team that successfully represented a reinsured in an arbitration under the auspices of ARIAS. The arbitration panel determined that the reinsured was entitled to recovery from the reinsurer under the various reinsurance agreements at issue.
In addition, Ms. Shah has represented criminal defendants as part of her practice. In 2006, Ms. Shah and attorney James A. Wade obtained the acquittal of a former high-ranking state official. The State had charged the former state official with two counts of larceny and two counts of conspiracy to commit larceny. After several months of trial, the jury took less than three hours to acquit on all charges.
Ms. Shah's community involvement includes her recent work as a pro bono lawyer for the Cherish the Children Foundation, for which she received Robinson & Cole's Pro Bono Service Award in 2009. From 2005 to 2009, Ms. Shah represented a ventilator-dependent quadriplegic child, whose family was seeking to move her from a special-care hospital to her home, and eventually obtained her release from the hospital. The child now lives at home with her family in a specially outfitted bedroom built by the Cherish the Children Foundation and is able to attend school.
Prior to joining Robinson & Cole, Ms. Shah clerked for the Honorable Christine S. Vertefeuille of the Connecticut Supreme Court.
Professional Associations
- AIDA Reinsurance and Insurance Arbitration Society, ARIAS US, 2007 to present
- American Bar Association
- Connecticut Bar Association
- South Asian Bar Association of Connecticut, Board of Directors
Honors and Awards
- Robinson & Cole Pro Bono Service Award Recipient, 2009
- University of Connecticut School of Law Honorable James M. Higgins Award for Compassion and Commitment in the Study of Law
Experience
- Represented transportation company in defense of an environmental class action trial in Massachusetts state court, one of the very few class action trials resulting from an environmental incident and, to our knowledge, the first environmental class action ever tried in Massachusetts. The case involved claims for property damage resulting from an oil spill in Buzzards Bay in 2003. The class was made up of approximately 1,000 residents from the Town of Mattapoisett who alleged their shoreline property was oiled as a result of the spill. The March 2010 trial, which lasted two weeks, addressed the claims of eight individual class members. The jury ultimately awarded a very favorable result for the client. The results of these initial cases were meant to provide the parties with a basis to resolve the remaining claims.
Publications & Presentations
Articles
- "Rights Under Fire: The Inadequacy of International Human Rights Instruments in Combating Dowry Murder in India" (Fall 2003), published in Connecticut Journal of International Law, 19 Conn. J. Int'l L. 209 (2003)
News
5.21.08, Robinson & Cole Attorney Serves as Volunteer Lawyer for Citizenship Day 2008