Paige M. Willan

Paige is strategic and skilled in the handling of high-stakes business disputes in the federal and state courts of Pennsylvania and New York. She has tried and arbitrated complicated and intricate business litigation, including injunctions. She is skillful at understanding the technical elements of complex matters and diving into the details of hotly contested factual disputes.

She handles the following types of litigation: directors’ and officers’ liability and corporate governance, breach of fiduciary duty, shareholder derivative actions, securities fraud, internal investigations, shareholder and partnership disputes, family business disputes, insurance and reinsurance issues, intellectual property disputes, misappropriation of trade secrets, employment litigation, including restrictive covenants, ethics and professional liability.

Paige also has a distinctive practice working in the transportation industry on litigation involving consumer protection, fraud and contractual claims.

In July 2019, Paige was appointed to a six-year term as a member of the Pennsylvania Transportation Commission by Governor Wolf.

Significant matters Paige has handled include:

• Litigated coverage dispute and negotiated favorable settlements of breach of fiduciary duty claims on behalf of twelve former directors and officers of a publicly-traded insurance company and its subsidiaries.
• Successfully defeated a preliminary injunction in federal court arising from a business dispute between a technology firm and its client.
• Conducted internal investigations in response to shareholder demand letters and internal complaints for both publicly-traded and privately held companies.
• Obtained a permanent injunction in federal court on behalf of a regional bank in connection with a claim for willful trademark infringement.
• Obtained summary judgment disposing of claims for fraud, breach of contract, conversion, violation of the Pennsylvania Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law, trespass, and negligence brought against a distributor of recreational vehicles in the Berks County Court of Common Pleas.

Before becoming a member of the bar, Paige lived and worked in Ukraine for an organization promoting public diplomacy through educational and cultural exchange. She is fluent in Russian and proficient in Ukrainian.

Author, “Pennsylvania Businesses Are Strictly Liable for Violations of Pennsylvania’s Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court Holds,” February 26, 2021

Author, “SCOTUS Rules That Federal Law Protects Employees From Discrimination Based On Sexual Orientation And Gender Identity,” June 18, 2020

Author, “Travel Restrictions: What to Expect Now and for the Foreseeable Future,” April 6, 2020

Presenter, “E-Discovery Disasters and How to Avoid Them,” accredited CLE presentation, October 24, 2019

Presenter, “Letters of Intent: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly,” accredited CLE presentation, September 20, 2018

Presenter, “20/20 Hindsight: A Litigator’s Critique of Merger and Acquisition Agreements in Private Company Transactions,” accredited CLE presentation,

Presenter, “Mobile Strategies for Trial Presentations and Traveling for Trial,” accredited CLE presentation

Presenter, “Finding the Money: Piercing the Corporate Veil & Successor Liability,” accredited CLE presentation

Presenter, “Basics of U.S. Contract Law,” presented for a group of Bosnian attorneys in connection with the American Bar Association’s Rule of Law Initiative’s Balkan Regional Rule of Law Network program

• Obtained two successive dismissals on the pleadings of claims for tortious interference with contract, the Pennsylvania Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law, tortious interference with rights of inheritance, invasion of privacy, indemnity, and injunctive relief on behalf of a regional bank and an attorney in the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas.
• Investigated potential claims against the directors and officers of a retail company in Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
• Represented a regional bank and its investment subsidiary in successful interpleader action involving accounts containing approximately $1.5 million in funds for which there were more than 50.
• Successfully defended a petition to vacate a favorable arbitration award on behalf of a former equity partner and member of the executive committee of a dissolved national law.
• Obtained a preliminary injunction on behalf of a manufacturing company to protect trade secrets held by a departing employee.
• Prevailed on a motion to dismiss a hedge fund’s five claims for alleged violations of ERISA in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, on behalf of a regional bank.
• Achieved a dismissal on the pleadings on behalf of the directors and officers of a food and beverage distributor in a suit in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas.
• Managed a nationwide portfolio of consumer protection and contract litigation for a service contract company in the transportation industry.
• Handled the Pennsylvania and New York consumer protection and contract litigation for a company in the transportation industry and obtained either a dismissal or a favorable adjudication on the merits in 70% of the matters handled.