Wiggin and Dana LLP

Appellate, Art and Museum Law, Class Actions, Commercial Litigation, Insurance, Litigation and Regulatory Compliance, Blockchain and Digital Assets

Partner

Jonathan represents clients in complex and high-stakes disputes, including appeals, transnational litigation, and disputes over art and artifacts.

He handles appeals in the U.S. Supreme Court, every federal circuit, and state appellate courts nationwide. He has successfully vindicated clients’ most important intellectual property interests on appeal, including defeating a Nobel Prize winner in litigation over the ownership of the patent on the Nobel-winning technology. His victories in major commercial matters include reversals in a nine-figure case in the U.S. Supreme Court and in eight-figure cases in the Supreme Courts of California, Georgia, and Connecticut, where he reversed what was then the largest class-action or commercial judgment ever issued in the state.

Jonathan counsels clients in disputes involving art and artifacts, including claims involving provenance, authenticity, and export law. He has successfully defended a client’s title to one of Van Gogh’s most famous paintings, garnered a U.S. Supreme Court victory for Germany and the Berlin equivalent of the Smithsonian in a case alleging that a major collection of medieval art was obtained through duress in the Nazi era, and represented Yale University in its litigation with Peru over Incan artifacts from Machu Picchu. He regularly counsels clients on the investigation and resolution of claims involving provenance, cultural property, and authenticity, and he assists museums outside the U.S. in understanding, defending and resolving claims involving U.S. law.

He represents sovereign nations and foreign sovereign officials in pursuing or defending claims in the United States. He has vindicated a former president of Mexico wrongly accused of violations of international human rights law, represented a foreign sovereign nation claiming RICO violations against a U.S. company, and has represented foreign sovereigns on Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act issues. He has represented foreign ambassadors and former senior U.S. officials.

Jonathan has deep experience litigating international disputes in U.S. courts and frequently works with counsel in other nations, whether on coordinated multinational litigation or by advising on U.S. law. His assistance to counsel in other nations includes providing expert testimony on U.S. law in foreign judicial proceedings.

Among other recognitions, Chambers USA ranks Jonathan in its highest band, noting that clients have described him as “absolutely brilliant,” “a fiercely bright appellate lawyer who handles high end problems,” “a very cost-effective resource in contentious matters,” and “probably the very best appellate advocate I have ever seen.” He is an elected Fellow of the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers.

After graduating from Yale Law School, where he was Senior Editor of the Yale Law Journal and received a fellowship in legal ethics and awards from the Florida Supreme Court and the Cuban-American Bar Association, Jonathan clerked for the late Judge Louis H. Pollak, former Dean of Yale Law School, and then went on to co-found a clinical program at Yale, teaching there for five years while directing the project’s litigation work and serving as a senior human rights fellow.

American Academy of Appellate Lawyer

American Bar Association

American Bar Foundation, Life Fellow

Connecticut Bar Association

Connecticut Bar Foundation, Life Fellow

Connecticut Supreme Court Historical Society

International Bar Association, Committee on Art, Cultural Institutions and Heritage Law

United States Supreme Court Historical Society

Yale Law School (J.D., 1998)

Oberlin College (B.A., 1987)