Edward J. Heath is the chair of our firm’s Business Litigation group and co-leads the Government Enforcement + White Collar Defense and Internal Investigations + Corporate Compliance teams. He is also a member of our firm’s six-member Managing Committee and former co-chair of the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion + Belonging Committee. Benchmark Litigation has named Ed as a Local Litigation Star in the area of Commercial Litigation since 2020.
Resolution of Business Disputes
Over the last 25 years, Ed has helped businesses across the globe resolve their disputes. An experienced trial lawyer, he has pursued or defended numerous nine- and eight-figure cases, which includes obtaining a full defense jury verdict following a multi-month trial for an institutional client facing $100 million in contract and business tort claims. He has been effectively defending companies against class action claims for over a decade, such as securing the dismissal of a proposed nationwide class action brought against an manufacturing company without the need for any payment to the plaintiff, potential class members, or plaintiff's counsel.
Government Enforcement + Corporate Compliance
Ed routinely advises institutional clients in connection with civil and criminal government investigations and enforcement activities, including with respect to issues involving the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and federal and state False Claims Acts. This work has involved federal agencies such as the United States Attorney's Office, the Office of Special Counsel, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Department of Homeland Security, Internal Revenue Service, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Environmental Protection Agency, as well as various state attorneys general and other administrative agencies.
As a result of this experience, Ed is often called upon to conduct internal investigations for companies and organizations, domestically as well as in Europe and Asia, and to provide guidance on matters of corporate compliance and litigation risk.
His clients have included technology companies; industrial and consumer product manufacturers; financial institutions and financial services firms; health care entities; educational, charitable, and religious organizations; professional associations, such as law and accounting firms; municipalities; judges; and media personalities.
Pro Bono Service
Ed has a strong commitment to pro bono work. From 2019 to 2024, he served as the president of Greater Hartford Legal Aid, and he has been a board member of that organization since 2011. He is also a board member of the Connecticut Bar Foundation, where he serves on the Executive Committee. By appointment of the Chief United States District Judge for the District of Connecticut, Ed is Counsel to Federal Grievance Committee.
For many years, Ed served as chair of Robinson+Cole's Pro Bono Committee, during which time our firm as well as individual lawyers, including Ed, received more than a dozen awards or other forms of recognition for pro bono work. For example, Ed was recognized for co-developing a firm program that for the last several years has provided free legal assistance to victims of domestic violence and harassment seeking restraining orders for protection. Ed also previously served on the Connecticut Judicial Branch's Pro Bono Committee, and he was a founding member of the Hartford Advisory Board of the Pro Bono Partnership, an organization that provides legal services to nonprofit organizations in Connecticut, New Jersey, and New York.
