Suneeta Hazra’s victories in the courtroom over the past year have been wide-ranging. From some of the world’s largest chocolate manufacturers to Garfield County in Colorado, Hazra has earned significant verdicts for her clients in the past year and in her career as both a public and private attorney.
Hazra is a partner in the Denver office of Arnold & Porter, and she has more than two decades of legal experience under her belt. Nearly two decades of that experience was in public work, with Hazra rising to the position of chief of the criminal division for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado before her move to private practice.
Her nomination for Law Week’s Top Litigators noted that this experience informs her multidisciplinary perspective to her white collar defense and investigations practice at Arnold & Porter.
While Hazra’s parents were both physicians, that was a path that never interested her. She was interested in helping people, just in different ways. “Being a lawyer appealed to me as a way to advocate for others, but thankfully without having to deal with blood,” Hazra said.
Her interest in litigation specifically came from both an enjoyment of being in the courtroom reacting to different situations and the strategy leading up to the court hearings. “From the inception, you need to think about how best to build your case and how to tell your client’s story to the jury,” Hazra said.
In one of her biggest wins of the year, Hazra secured summary judgment for her client AIG Speciality Insurance, which was in a long-running insurance coverage dispute with Huntington National Bank, according to her award nomination. The claims at issue were purported losses arising from a Ponzi scheme. On appeal, with the issues fully briefed, the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed summary judgment in favor of Hazra and her client.
She was also on the prevailing side in several other notable cases in the past year. She defended a medical transportation provider in an investigation and qui tam action, which, following her work obtaining an affidavit supporting her argument, saw the case voluntarily dismissed.
In a case involving some of the world’s largest chocolatiers, Hazra was a key member of the trial team that won a verdict on all counts for Lindt & Sprüngli, Ghirardelli Chocolate Company and Russell Stover against GXO Warehouse Company. At issue in the case was the failed implementation of a warehouse distribution software at the companies’ new warehouse, packaging and distribution center in the western U.S.
“The case was heavily litigated right through trial with GXO repeatedly seeking to dismiss the chocolate companies’ claims, including with an omnibus summary judgment motion, which the court denied. The chocolate companies also overcame numerous GXO attempts to exclude evidence at trial,” Hazra’s nomination for Top Litigators noted.
The Western Slope also saw Hazra’s work. Along with the Arnold & Porter team, Hazra, on behalf of Garfield County, challenged the Bureau of Land Management’s decision to allow mining activity in Glenwood Springs. The county challenged these actions under the Administrative Procedures Act, and the court agreed. BLM ultimately ordered a stop to the mining activity.
Hazra told Law Week that all of the matters she was involved with over the past year involved a lot of strategy and planning.
“For example, for the mining case, we had to use the Administrative Procedures Act as the vehicle to bring some unique challenges on behalf of our client,” Hazra explained. “So, determining how best to procedurally posture our arguments within the confined legal rubric was difficult.”
In the qui tam case, Hazra said that the team had to explain to the government how its preconceptions were wrong in relation to how Arnold & Porter’s client in the case operated.
“I know from experience that one approaches these conversations with defense counsel with skepticism, so developing our facts and presenting a compelling, truthful version of how my client really operated was essential to getting our successful result,” Hazra said.
She told Law Week that when she approaches a case, she thinks about how it will be received by the ultimate trier of fact and builds from there.
“My experience in the courtroom really helps me see how a jury or judge will evaluate the issues, and what evidence will be most helpful,” Hazra said. “I also think having been on both sides means I am able to evaluate the weaknesses in my case and then look for ways to shore them up. I am more open minded and able to acknowledge vulnerabilities, which I think is harder if you have only done one side. It also allows me to understand opposing counsel’s point of view, which can help in leading to successful resolutions.”
In addition to her litigation practice, Hazra maintains a robust pro bono practice, which she said was part of why she joined Arnold & Porter following her time as a public attorney.
“When I was looking to leave the government, I wanted a firm that would allow me to work on complex, interesting litigation while also continuing to contribute to significant pro bono efforts,” Hazra said. “Arnold & Porter appealed to me as a place where I would be able to do both and where I could enjoy a collegial and fun working atmosphere.”
Hazra’s pro bono practice works to meet the justice needs of the LGBTQ+ community in and around the Denver and Boulder communities. According to Hazra’s nomination for Top Litigators, she is currently serving as the lead partner in a class action suit against Gov. Jared Polis and the Colorado Department of Corrections over the housing of transgender women who are incarcerated.
She also serves on the executive committee of the Colorado Lawyers Committee, which aims to create and increase opportunities for children, low-income individuals and other disadvantaged communities through pro bono legal advocacy, negotiation and litigation.
“Giving back to the community is important to me and the CLC mission in particular fulfills this for me,” Hazra said. “CLC allows me to do valuable impactful pro bono work in both the counseling and the litigation phases and continue to use my skills to help those less fortunate.”
In a career filled with highlights, Hazra considers her greatest achievement the successful first-degree murder prosecution of Harold Henthorn. She served as lead counsel on the case. Henthorn’s wife, Toni, died in a remote area of Rocky Mountain National Park, in an incident that he claimed was an accidental fall. She noted that his first wife had also died in a supposed accident where Henthorn was the only other person present.
“We had to build a case from purely circumstantial evidence and were able to prove that Henthorn intentionally pushed his wife while taking out multiple life insurance policies on her without her knowledge,” Hazra said. “Securing justice for Toni and her family, particularly her young daughter, was the highlight of my legal career.”