Paula Cruz Cedillo | McCarter & English, LLP

An experienced litigator whose practice includes a wide range of commercial disputes, Paula Cruz Cedillo handles some of McCarter’s largest, most complex, and high exposure cases with an in-depth understanding of the law and a command of the facts to strategically achieve her clients’ litigation objectives.

Paula concentrates her practice on complex commercial litigation, securities litigation, the defense of class actions, and white collar criminal defense matters, representing clients in federal and state courts throughout the country. She has substantial experience in matters related to the False Claims Act, as well as disputes involving unfair competition, misappropriation of trade secrets, the protection of intellectual property, director and officer liability, ERISA, and civil RICO related claims.

In addition to litigating securities class actions and disputes in federal courts throughout the country, Paula represents corporations and broker/dealers defending SEC and FINRA enforcement actions, including defending claims of insider trading and market manipulation. Paula also routinely appears before FINRA, the American Arbitration Association (AAA), and JAMS.

In her white collar criminal defense practice, Paula has represented corporations and individual corporate officers at the investigative stage, including before the grand jury, as well as the post-indictment stages in matters involving securities fraud, bank fraud, wire fraud, tax fraud, and money laundering. She also regularly conducts internal corporate investigations, including investigations related to government contracting fraud and securities fraud, and counsels clients in connection with investigations conducted by Government prosecutors and regulators.

Paula is the co-author of Connecticut Business Litigation, part of the Connecticut Law Tribune’s book series published by American Lawyer Media (ALM), and a primary resource for attorneys who litigate complex commercial matters in Connecticut federal and state courts. Paula was also invited to contribute to the Aspatore Press “Inside the Minds” book series published by West, Thomson Reuters, authoring a Chapter entitled, “The False Claims Act: Strategy and Protocol for Initial Responses to the Government, Whistleblowers, and Qui Tam Actions.”

Successfully defended a charitable healthcare foundation against a private equity firm’s claim to $10 million in charitable funds in connection with the private equity firm’s for-profit acquisition of nonprofit hospitals and healthcare systems. The dispute arose over the disposition of the charitable funds as assets under the asset purchase agreement for the transaction. After a two-week trial, we obtained a judgment in our client’s favor directing that the $10 million in charitable funds be paid to the foundation.

Representing client in a copyright infringement action in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York over the client’s alleged misuse of copyrighted photographs. Other defendants include Orbitz, Expedia, Frommers, and Hotels.com.

Successfully defended a favorable ruling on appeal before the Third Circuit on behalf of a global supplier of power coverage and storage technology. The underlying dispute derived from a qui tam suit filed under the False Claims Act claiming defective manufacturing of the backup power supply units to the United States ICBM Missile System. Initially, we conducted an internal investigation and, after a number of proffers to the government, successfully convinced the Department of Justice to close its criminal investigation of our client. The related civil qui tam action settled on the eve of trial for a small fraction of the $33 million demanded by the Relator. Under the False Claims Act, the settlement technically entitled the Relator to an award of “reasonable” attorneys’ fees. McCarter, however, challenged the amount claimed as excessive, and secured an order that nearly cut the requested fees in half.

Successfully defended a global manufacturer and distributor of commercial motor coaches and related entities against a putative class action pending in the US District Court for the Northern District of California. Plaintiff’s claims arose from alleged manufacturing and design defects of commercial motor coaches manufactured by our client that purportedly rendered them unreliable for service. Plaintiff filed the action on behalf of a putative nationwide class seeking damages to recover the cost of the motor coaches and other damages, with potential exposure in the tens of millions of dollars. We filed a motion to dismiss the class action complaint, resulting in Plaintiff’s decision to voluntarily dismiss the action in its entirety.

Successfully defended provider of revolutionary glycol-based waterless coolant technology in a dispute over the licensing and use of certain patent rights, related know how, and trade secrets, and the payment of royalties from their use. The matter involved complex issues of patent infringement and claims construction of patents related to non-aqueous heat transfer fluid systems. The arbitrator ultimately awarded the claimants less than one-third of their demand.

Successfully defended a registered investment advisor in an action in the US District Court for the District of Connecticut initiated by trustees of a union fund over losses stemming from investments related to the sub-prime mortgage crisis. Plaintiffs asserted claims for breach of fiduciary duty under ERISA, breach of contract, and negligent misrepresentation based on allegations that our client had failed to monitor the investments exposed to mortgage-backed securities. All claims were resolved under a confidential settlement agreement for a small fraction of the claimed damages and for less than defense costs.

Successfully defended a national investment advisor affiliate and its principals against a $7.5 million claim in a FINRA arbitration involving civil RICO claims and additional claims for unfair trade practices, defamation, breach of contract, tortious interference, conversion, and statutory theft. After 39 days of hearings, the dispute culminated in a defense decision ordering the claimant to pay over $1.1 million to our clients on the counterclaims, which amount included punitive damages and attorneys’ fees.

Successfully defended a national real estate brokerage firm in a copyright infringement action brought in the US District of Massachusetts asserting claims of copyright infringement and false designation of origin in the form of reverse-passing-off in violation of the Lanham Act. Plaintiff claimed unauthorized use of copyrighted blueprints, technical drawings and related images for marketing and advertising purposes on various websites. Following the filing of our motion to dismiss the Lanham Act claim, plaintiff withdrew that cause of action, and the remaining copyright infringement claim was resolved for a nominal amount.

Secured the complete dismissal, with prejudice, of an action filed against a national residential mortgage broker in the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut. The Court granted our motion to dismiss in its entirety, dismissing the five-count complaint against the client, which included claims of fraudulent misrepresentation and unfair trade practices related to allegations that the client orchestrated a scheme to fraudulently acquire the business assets of a competitor. The action was dismissed with prejudice and the Court denied the plaintiff leave to amend the pleadings.

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