James A Goniea

James A. Goniea, a partner in the firm's Franchise and Distribution Practice Group, is resident in the firm's Philadelphia office, and has litigated on behalf of, and provided counsel for, many of the most prominent names in franchising over the past twenty years. Mr. Goniea has represented franchise clients in courts across the country and internationally on a wide variety of issues including, among others, territorial disputes, non-competition covenants, trademark disputes, system compliance,...See more

James A. Goniea, a partner in the firm's Franchise and Distribution Practice Group, is resident in the firm's Philadelphia office, and has litigated on behalf of, and provided counsel for, many of the most prominent names in franchising over the past twenty years. Mr. Goniea has represented franchise clients in courts across the country and internationally on a wide variety of issues including, among others, territorial disputes, non-competition covenants, trademark disputes, system compliance, collections matters, wrongful termination and enforcement of arbitration and venue provisions. Before joining Wiggin and Dana, Mr. Goniea served as the Vice President and General Counsel of American Driveline Systems, Inc. ("ADS"), the company that owns the AAMCO Transmissions and Cottman Transmission brands. As General Counsel of ADS, Mr. Goniea had primary responsibility for overseeing and managing all legal, regulatory and compliance matters on behalf of both brands. In addition to addressing matters relating to corporate governance and contract negotiation, Mr. Goniea served as the company's primary litigator, frequently appearing in court and trying cases on behalf of both AAMCO and Cottman. Mr. Goniea also was responsible for managing the company's Customer Relations and Consumer Affairs departments. From 2000 to 2006, Mr. Goniea was a partner in the San Francisco office of Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal (now SNR Denton). 1112 See less