Benjamin Daniels

Benjamin M. Daniels

Counsel

Benjamin M. Daniels

Counsel

  • Overview

    Biography

    Benjamin Daniels is a member of the firm’s Business Litigation Group, with a focus on complex litigation and education law. He assists Fortune 100 companies, sovereign nations, and institutions of higher education in navigating complex legal and regulatory disputes.

    Domestic and International Business Disputes

    Ben works with businesses on all aspects of a case, from pre-litigation strategy through appeal. He has experience at every level of litigation, serving as lead and co-lead counsel on trials, appeals, internal investigations, and risk management reviews. 

    Clients turn to Ben to handle bet-the-company litigation in both domestic and international forums. He has defended multi-national patent disputes, prosecuted international arbitration for a major U.S. aerospace manufacturer, and defended financial institutions in interrelated merger litigations and governmental investigations.

    Ben’s experience in cross-border litigation includes international arbitration, international discovery, domestic discovery in support of foreign litigation, and issues of sovereign immunity and derivative sovereign immunity. Among other things, he has helped U.S. companies defend against foreign discovery actions and assisted them in collecting information in foreign countries. He also has represented the former prime minister of a foreign sovereign in U.S. federal court, and successfully represented a sovereign nation in the U.S. Supreme Court.

    No matter the context—counseling, litigation, cross-border counseling, or government investigations—Ben combines deep knowledge of legal and regulatory issues with a focus on each individual client’s unique business needs.

    Higher Education

    For more than 10 years, Ben has worked with universities, colleges, independent schools, education associations, and education companies to solve diverse legal and regulatory challenges. Among other things, he has helped major colleges and universities respond to federal and state investigations over Title IX, ADA compliance, FERPA, and state authorization. He also has assisted those institutions with a wide array of litigation, including cases involving sexual harassment, defamation, and class action allegations.

    Ben’s recent experience includes successful resolution of several federal investigations, successful defense of a major university in the Connecticut Supreme Court, and trial-level work defending a tuition-refund class action. He brings extensive knowledge pertinent to education sector clients, along with an understanding of the unique regulatory and academic challenges facing institutions of higher education.

    Community Involvement

    Ben devotes significant time to pro bono matters at the trial and appellate levels. He is the former head of the Appellate Litigation Project at Yale Law School, where he supervised students representing indigent clients in the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Second and Third Circuits. He also has received pro bono achievement awards from both of his former firms, and New York Legal Services, which honored him for his work successfully defending a criminal appeal in the New York appellate courts.

    Before Robinson and Cole, Ben worked for another major Connecticut firm, focusing on complex litigation and higher education. He also worked for a global law firm in New York City, focusing on complex litigation and government enforcement actions including litigation involving the financial crisis.

    His experience also includes federal clerkships at both the trial and appellate levels. He clerked for Judge John M. Rogers of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, and Chief Judge Irma E. Gonzalez of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.

  • Experience
    • Experience

      Experience

        Aerospace & Manufacturing Litigation

      • Defended international aerospace company in a domestic patent-infringement dispute with a subsidiary of a major German airline. The airline demanded billions in alleged licensing fees, but we convinced the trial court to invalidate the German airline’s U.S. patent and the Federal Circuit to affirm. *

      • Defended international aerospace company in multi-national aspects of a patent-infringement dispute with a German airline. We assisted the client in resisting discovery in the United States, and advised them on strategy in the United Kingdom, France, and Germany. We protected our client’s interests, helped them navigate thorny international issues, and obtained positive results in European courts. *

      • Represented an aerospace company in international arbitration against world’s largest airliner manufacturer, which resolved a dispute over a patent sublicense. *

        • Financial Services Litigation

      • Represented U.S. financial services company resisting U.S. discovery sought for use in proceedings in the United Kingdom. *

      • Defended major investment bank against federal investigations, congressional investigations, state investigations, civil actions by the Securities and Exchange Commissions, and shareholder lawsuits arising out of a merger with another major investment bank. *

      • Defended foreign bank in litigation concerning failed currency swap with major investment bank. Our client was facing multimillion-dollar liability, but we were able to secure a settlement for a fraction of the demand. *

        • Education Litigation and Counseling

      • Successfully represented private university in lawsuit and appeal involving efforts to co-educate a fraternity, securing on appeal a reversal of a mandatory injunction requiring the University to do business with the fraternity. *

      • Routinely represent education clients in connection with civil federal investigations in Connecticut and New York involving the Department of Education, with a concentration on sexual misconduct, hazing, and ADA compliance. *

      • Routinely advise colleges on all aspects of their policies and practices, including Title IX policies, student conduct boards, faculty handbooks, and issues concerning free speech and academic freedom. *

        • International and Sovereign Litigation

      • Defended sovereign nation in connection with an art dispute arising out of World War II. We appeared in the trial court, and the court of appeals, and ultimately secured a victory for our client in the U.S. Supreme Court. *

      • Represented former head of state in U.S. actions to obtain discovery to assist in criminal defense in his home country. *

      • Represented founder of major Canadian Internet content company in U.S. actions to uncover identity of person posting defamatory material on the Internet. *

        • Other Experiences

      • *Attorney Daniels was counsel in these representative transactions prior to joining Robinson+Cole.

        • back to top
    • Professional Associations

      Professional Associations

      American Bar Association

      Connecticut Bar Association

      National Association of College and University Attorneys

      Federal Practice
    • Honors + Awards

      Honors + Awards

      Selected as a Rising Star to the Connecticut Super Lawyers list from 2015 to 2019

      Recognized as a New Leader in the Law by the Connecticut Law Tribune, 2017

  • NEWS + PRESS
    • News

      R+C in the News

      • January 14, 2022

        Ben Daniels Quoted in HBJ Article on University of Saint Joseph's Move to Co-Ed Undergraduate Programs

        • » more info

          Ben Daniels Quoted in HBJ Article on University of Saint Joseph's Move to Co-Ed Undergraduate Programs

          Business Litigation Group member, Ben Daniels, was quoted in the Hartford Business Journal article, “Four years after admitting men for first time, USJ sees steady undergrad enrollment growth” published on January 3, 2022. The article focuses on the challenges faced by lesser-known, all-women institutions related to declining enrollments and greater competition in recent years. Those market forces led West Hartford, Connecticut’s University of Saint Joseph (USJ) in 2018 to respond by admitting men in its undergraduate programs for the first time in its then-85-year history. One of the first challenges for USJ was simply getting the word out that the school would begin accepting men.

          As the school began to explore the options it could employ, one answer was clear – athletics. Namely, legendary former University of Connecticut men’s basketball coach, three-time NCAA tournament champion, and member of the Basketball Hall of Fame, Jim Calhoun, who was hired by the university in 2018 to head its basketball program. “[USJ] focused on athletics in bringing Calhoun on,” said Ben, who has worked with higher education clients for more than a decade. “St. Joe’s promoted the men’s athletics program while also maintaining a focus on equity and inclusion and strong academics.” Read the full article here.

           

      R+C News Releases

      • May 18, 2021

        Robinson+Cole Expands Litigation Practice

        • » more info

          Robinson+Cole Expands Litigation Practice

          Robinson+Cole is pleased to announce the addition of Benjamin M. Daniels as counsel in the firm’s Business Litigation Group. Daniels’ practice focuses on complex litigation and education law. He will be resident in the firm’s Hartford and New York offices.

          “Ben has developed a strong record of handling the sophisticated legal matters before regulators and trial courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court. His deep and varied experience will further expand our national platform,” said Edward J. Heath, Chair of Robinson+Cole’s Business Litigation Group. “The respect of his clients is well-deserved, and we’re thrilled to bring him on board.” Read more in the press release.

        • View article
    • Legal Updates/Newsletters

      Legal Updates/Newsletters

      "The Walsh Act: Discovery from U.S. Citizens Living Abroad" co-authored with Joshua L. Coker (5/10/2022)

      "Section 1782: Discovery in Support of a Foreign Proceeding" co-authored with Jenna M. Scoville (4/20/2022)