Paula Cruz Cedillo 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, director and officer liability, ERISA, and civil RICO related claims. Paula’s practice also involves handling intellectual property matters, including copyright, trademark, and patent infringement and opposition proceedings before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board of the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
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.”