Current Employment Position(s)

Partner

Lawyer Overview

Erika Amarante is a partner in Wiggin and Dana’s Litigation Department. Her practice includes both trial and appellate litigation in federal and state courts, focusing on franchise and distribution law, antitrust litigation and counseling, and complex civil and commercial litigation. Erika is a member of the firm’s Antitrust and Trade Regulation Practice Group, Franchise and Distribution Practice Group, Appellate Practice Group and e-Discovery Task Force.

Erika has litigated numerous cases in state and federal appeals courts, including the Connecticut Supreme and Appellate Courts, the Courts of Appeals for the Second, Fifth and D.C. Circuits, and the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, First Department. Erika also has extensive experience in state and federal trial courts and before arbitrators and mediators in a variety of forums and states.

Erika regularly counsels the firm’s franchise and distribution clients on the requirements of federal and state antitrust law. She is actively involved in the ABA Section of Antitrust, and serves as a Vice-Chair to the Section’s Distribution and Franchising Committee. Erika has contributed to several of the Section’s publications, included the most recent editions of both Antitrust Law Developments and State Antitrust Practice and Statutes. Erika is currently at work updating a chapter of the Section’s second edition of its Franchise and Dealership Termination Handbook, with an expected publication in summer 2009. She also serves as Secretary to the Connecticut Bar Association’s Antitrust and Trade Regulation Section.

As a member of the firm’s e-Discovery Task Force, Erika also counsels clients and colleagues within the firm on the emerging best practices for the preservation and production of electronically stored information (“ESI”). Erika writes and speaks frequently on topics such as creating effective document retention policies, fashioning appropriate litigation holds and managing electronic data during litigation.

Areas of Practice

• Antitrust and Trade Regulation
• Appellate
• Franchise and Distribution
• Litigation

West Practice Categories

Antitrust & Trade Regulation, Litigation & Appeals, Franchising, Business & Commercial Law

Bar Admissions

• Connecticut, 1998
• U.S. Court of Appeals 2nd Circuit
• U.S. District Court District of Connecticut

Professional Associations and Memberships

• American Bar Association
• Connecticut Bar Association
• Connecticut Bar Journal (Staff Editor)

Past Employment Positions

• Hon. Francis McDonald, and Hon. Richard Palmer, Connecticut Supreme Court, Law Clerk, 1998 - 1999
• Hon. Chief Justice Francis McDonald, Executive Assistant, 1999 - 2000

Education

• New York University School of Law, New York, New York, 1998
  J.D.
  Honors: cum laude
  
  Law Journal: New York Univeristy Environmental Law Journal, Member & Editor-in-Chief, 1997 - 1998
• Cornell University, 1995
  B.A.
  Honors: With Distinction
  Major: Biology and Society

Published Works

• "Water Resources: Agriculture, the Environment and Society", Bioscience Vol. 47 N.2, February
• "The International Obligation to Conduct an Environmental Impact Assessment: The ICJ Case Concerning the Gabcikovo-Nagymaros Project", 7 New York University Environmental Law Journal, 1999
• Key Differences Between Appeals in the Second Circuit and Connecticut’s Appellate Courts, September, 2007
• “DAI v. Downey: Associational Standing and Arbitration”, 27 Franchise L. J. 16, Summer, 2007
• "Development in the Second Circuit: 2002 - 2003", 36 Conn. L. Rev. 1187, Summer, 2004
• "Chapter 8: Connecticut, in ABA Section of Antitrust Law", State Antitrust Practice and Statutes, 3d Edition, 2004
• "Antitrust and Franchising: Conspiracies Between Franchisors and Franchisees under Section 1," 23, Franchise Law Journal 7, Summer, 2003
• "Key Differences Between Appeals in the Second Circuit and Connecticut’s Appellate Courts", Connecticut Bar Journal, Volume 76, No. 3, September, 2002
• So You Think You’re Safe under the Antitrust Laws? A Word of Advice to Those Who Would Ignore the States", Matthew Bender Antitrust Report, Fall, 2002

Address

One Century Tower
P.O. Box 1832
265 Church Street
New Haven, CT 06508-1832

Phones

(203) 498-4493

Faxes

(203) 782-2889

Emails

Contact Us

Websites

http://www.wiggin.com