Finn Dixon & Herling LLP

Picture of Donna Nelson Heller

Donna Nelson Heller

Partner

dheller@fdh.com
vCard

T: (203) 325-5028
F: (203) 325-5001

Donna Nelson Heller is the senior member of Finn Dixon & Herling’s Commercial Litigation group. Ms. Heller has extensive commercial litigation experience, particularly in cases involving complex contract disputes, corporate governance issues, business torts, unfair trade practices and financial fraud. She has been named a Connecticut “Super Lawyer” in the area of business litigation each year since 2007 (View selection criteria).

Ms. Heller is responsible for the firm's employment litigation practice. She has defended employers against claims ranging from employment discrimination to violation of wage and hour laws. She has represented clients in actions seeking injunctive relief to enforce restrictive covenants or to protect trade secrets. Ms. Heller has litigated employment cases in the state and federal courts and before the EEOC and other administrative agencies. She has also represented clients in Department of Labor investigations and conducted state-mandated sexual harassment training sessions.

Ms. Heller has also represented clients in workouts, adversary proceedings and foreclosure actions, generally from the creditors’ perspective. In addition to her litigation practice in state and federal trial and appellate courts, Ms. Heller has significant experience in arbitration, mediation and other forms of alternative dispute resolution.

Ms. Heller's professional and civic activities reflect her commitment to the practice of law and the greater community. She has served as an attorney trial referee in the Connecticut Superior Court since 1998, and she is a member of the Connecticut Bar Association's Professional Ethics Committee. Ms. Heller is currently the Secretary of the Fairfield County Bar Association, having served as the Association's Treasurer from 2010 to 2011 and as a director since 2008. She is also the Immediate Past President of the Fairfield County Bar Foundation, the charitable affiliate of the Fairfield County Bar Association. She has been a member of the Foundation's Board since its formation in 2007. Ms. Heller was elected President of the Stamford Center for the Arts in 2010, after serving on its Board and its Advisory Council. She was an active member of the Naval Academy Parents Club of Connecticut for several years, serving as Co-President from 2006 to 2007. With a personal interest in the legal needs of veterans, active-duty military and their families, Ms. Heller became certified by the Veterans Administration in 2010 to advocate on behalf of veterans in benefits proceedings.

Associations and Memberships

American Bar Association
Sections on Litigation, Labor & Employment, Law Practice Management

American Bar Foundation

Connecticut Bar Association
Sections on Litigation, Federal Practice, Labor & Employment, Commercial Law & Bankruptcy
Executive Committee, Commercial Law & Bankruptcy Section
Executive Committee, Labor & Employment Section
Professional Ethics Committee
Military Law Committee

Fairfield County Bar Association
Secretary (2011 to date)
Treasurer (2010 to 2011)
Board of Directors (2008 to date)
Litigation, Employment Law and Bench/Bar Committees
Co-Chair, Employment Law Committee (2004 to 2006)

Fairfield County Bar Foundation
Immediate Past President (2010 to date)
President (2008 to 2010)
Vice President (2007 to 2008)
Board of Directors (2007 to date)

American Inns of Court, Raymond E. Baldwin Inn
Executive Committee (2006 to date)
Program Chair (2006 to 2009)

Federal Bar Council

Association of the Bar of the City of New York

Connecticut Superior Court
Attorney Trial Referee

Stamford Center for the Arts
President (2010 to date)
Board of Directors (2007 to 2008; 2009 to date)
Advisory Council (2004 to 2007)

United States Naval Academy Parents Club of Connecticut
Co-President (2006 to 2007)
Executive Board (2003 to 2007)

Greenwich School Age Child Care, Inc.
Director and Counsel (1993 to 2002)

Publications

Co-author, "Strategies, Insights and Resources for Effective Settlement Negotiations," Pretrial Practice 2011 Course Handbook, May 2011

Co-author, "Employee Free Speech:  Cotto and DiMartino Revisited," Connecticut Bar Association Labor & Employment Law Quarterly, Winter 2005

"The Year in Review -- Commercial Law:  2004 Decisions of Connecticut Courts," Commercial Law & Bankruptcy Section (Connecticut Bar Association Annual Meeting), June 2004

"The Year in Review -- Commercial Law:  2001 Decisions of Connecticut Courts," Commercial Law & Bankruptcy Section (Connecticut Bar Association Annual Meeting), June 2001

Speaking Engagements

Panelist, "Pretrial Practice 2011," The Practising Law Institute, May 2011

Panelist, "Purpose, Passion, and Performance - A New Era," Tri-State Diversity Council, March 2011

Speaker, "Whistleblowing in the Private Sector," Fairfield County Bar Association, January 2006

Panelist, "The Year in Review," Commercial Law & Bankruptcy Section, Connecticut Bar Association Annual Meeting, June 2004

Speaker, "Sexual Harassment in the Workplace: Liability, Prevention, Policies and Remedies," SACIA Sexual Harassment Training Seminar, September 2003

Panelist, "Uniform Commercial Code Article 2A: An Overview of Basic Concepts in the Connecticut Version of Revised Article 2A," Commercial Law & Bankruptcy Section, Connecticut Bar Association, October 2002

Panelist, "The Year in Review," Commercial Law & Bankruptcy Section, Connecticut Bar Association Annual Meeting, June 2001