Charlotte Baigent

Charlotte Baigent maintains a broad litigation practice at Holwell Shuster & Goldberg, including in commercial, intellectual property, international arbitration, administrative, criminal, and constitutional law. 

Charlotte represents corporate and individual clients in federal and state court litigation across the country. Her experience includes co-defending a fidelity insurance action on a leanly staffed trial team in the Southern District of Florida, litigating a cross-border contract dispute on appeal to the New York Appellate Division, First Department, and prosecuting a complex intellectual property action in the Western District of Washington.

Charlotte is actively involved in HSG’s pro bono practice. She is currently representing a criminal defendant on appeal in New York state court, litigating a § 1983 civil rights claim against police in Louisiana, and prosecuting a workplace discrimination case on behalf of pregnant and breastfeeding pilots in Colorado. 

Before joining HSG, Charlotte clerked on the Supreme Court of Canada and the Court of Appeals for British Columbia. She first gained courtroom experience in British Columbia, Canada, delivering oral submissions before the Supreme Court in Chambers and the Provincial Court. While working at McCarthy Tétrault LLP, Charlotte sat at counsel table at a trial involving a constitutional challenge to practices of the Canadian Revenue Agency and litigated a special criminal prosecution.

Charlotte graduated from the University of British Columbia’s law school, where she was designated a Wesbrook Scholar (UBC’s top prize), co-chaired Pro Bono Students Canada, and received a top oralist prize at a national moot court competition.

Charlotte is admitted to practice in New York and Ontario, Canada.

Notable Cases

• Zunum Aero in a complex intellectual property action against Boeing related to hybrid-to-electric aircraft development in the Western District of Washington.
• Federal in a fidelity insurance action related to the Jay Peak Ponzi scheme in the Southern District of Florida.
• Molecular Dynamics in proceedings seeking to vacate an international arbitration award rendered in Switzerland in the Southern District of New York.
• Editis, Interforum and their parent company, Vivendi, in complex cross-border contract litigation in the New York Commercial Division and on appeal to the New York Appellate Division, First Department.
• Various affiliates of Chubb in nationwide litigation over insurance coverage for over 3,000 lawsuits brought by governmental entities across the country related to opioid production and distribution.
• Air India in proceedings seeking a declaration that the airline is the alter ego of the Republic of India, and therefore jointly and severally liable for the amount of BIT arbitration awards rendered against the foreign state, in the Southern District of New York.
• Visa Inc. and its subsidiaries in various matters, including their defense against class and individual antitrust actions brought by virtually every merchant in the United States, alleging hundreds of billions in damages.
• In partnership with the American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana, a black individual in a civil rights action against police alleging excessive use of force during his arrest.
• In partnership with the American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado, a workplace discrimination case on behalf of pregnant and breastfeeding pilots against Frontier Airlines, alleging violations of the Civil Rights Act.
• In partnership with the Office of the Appellate Defender, a criminal defendant on appeal from convictions and indeterminate, consecutive sentences before the New York Appellate Division, First Department.

Writings

• “Why Gladue Needs an Intersectional Lens: The Silencing of Sex in Indigenous Women’s Sentencing Decisions,” Canadian Journal of Women and the Law (2020)
• “Undoing Doré: Judicial Resistance in Canadian Appellate Courts,” Canadian Journal of Administrative Law & Practice 63 (2020)
• “Bid At Your Own Risk,” Canadian Appeals Monitor (2018)