Goldberg Segalla

Sandra Snaden Kuwaye has over 15 years of broad litigation experience and is a member of the firm’s Professional Liability and Global Insurance Services Practice Groups. Her practice focuses on the defense of attorneys in legal malpractice claims and the defense of insurers in contractual and extra-contractual litigation, including bad faith. Sandy also defends clients under Commercial General Liability policies.

Sandy has both jury and bench trial experience. In one of her notable cases, Sandy successfully obtained a defense verdict for her client in a high-profile case involving claims that were defended under a legal malpractice policy. The plaintiff claimed in excess of $87.5 million and the verdict was obtained after a four-month jury trial on the Complex Litigation Docket. The plaintiff, a real estate developer, sued a municipality, its mayor, and the municipality’s outside counsel (among others) claiming that political corruption and a conspiracy among the defendants derailed the plaintiff’s development of a large, 50-acre tract of blighted waterfront land. The plaintiff claimed compensatory damages as well as lost profits. Prior to trial, Sandy and the defense team were successful in convincing the judge to preclude any evidence of the plaintiff’s $87.5 million claim for lost profits and the trial proceeded with only a claim for compensatory damages.

In addition to her jury and bench trial experience, Sandy has also argued successfully several times before the Second Circuit Court of Appeals and the Connecticut Appellate Court. She has extensive experience drafting complex federal and state appellate briefs and has also drafted Petitions for Certiorari to the United States Supreme Court.

Professional Affiliations

• Connecticut Bar Association
• Hartford County Bar Association
• Oliver Ellsworth Inn of Court, 2006-2009

Admitted to Practice

• Connecticut, 1996
• U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut
• Second Circuit Court of Appeals

Civic Activities

• Alumni Student Recruiter for the University of Michigan
• Frequent judge for mock trial/moot court activities at University of Connecticut School of Law

Education

• University of Michigan, B.A., 1993:  Class Honors, 1993 (Recipient, U of M Achievement Award/Scholarship for Outstanding Minority Students, 1989)
• University of Connecticut School of Law, J.D., 1996 (Connecticut Law Review, Executive Editor, 1995-1996; Civil Rights Clinic, Student Attorney 1995-1996; Latino Law Students' Association, Member 1995-1996)