Daniel P. Weiner has served people in Fairfield County and throughout the state of Connecticut for nearly 40 years. He and his staff are committed to providing effective legal counsel and serious, aggressive representation to people dealing with a wide range of legal matters, including criminal charges, juvenile matters, personal injury or divorce and family law issues.

Deena R. Merlen is a Partner at the firm. She serves clients at both our New York and Stamford offices and heads the Connecticut practice. Her practice areas include intellectual property, employment and labor law, media and entertainment, general business law, commercial transactions and dispute resolution. In her employment practice, Ms. Merlen is a trusted “go to” problem solver and counsel to individuals, established name brand companies and startups alike. She has extensive experience representing clients in matters including general counseling, discrimination actions, mediations and dispute resolution, investigations by federal or state agencies, as well as wage and hour claims and other labor law matters. She also advises on and regularly negotiates employment and separation agreements, independent contractor arrangements and other services-related arrangements. Ms. Merlen also counsels clients on employment and business matters in response to a crisis or other unexpected business impact, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting business closures, including continuity plans, employee furloughs, reductions in force and other critical measures. In her intellectual property practice, Ms. Merlen helps her clients with the development, acquisition and protection of their valuable brands and other vital intellectual property assets. She manages and grows trademark portfolios in the U.S. and internationally; negotiates licensing, assignment, distribution and branding agreements; prosecutes trademark and copyright registrations; enforces intellectual property rights; and provides strategic counsel to safeguard brand platforms and expand the value of her clients’ intellectual property assets. Ms. Merlen’s media practice encompasses the development and protection of creative works in the fields of music, film, television, theatre, publishing, literary arts, performing arts, design and technology. She ran her own business in the entertainment industry for over a decade and brings that business experience and acumen to her legal practice. In addition, Ms. Merlen provides general business counsel and represents clients in company and transactional matters such as partnerships, joint ventures, licensing arrangements, the purchase or sale of businesses, and a wide range of other corporate matters, including company formation, capitalization and governance, compliance and contracts. Representative clients include technology companies, schools and other academic institutions, personal care and beauty companies, fashion and design companies, media, arts and entertainment companies, wholesalers, retailers and more. Prior to her work with RPJ, Ms. Merlen served as Law Clerk to The Honorable Roger J. Miner of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, after which she joined Debevoise & Plimpton, where she practiced for over five years in the areas of corporate law and intellectual property. Ms. Merlen is admitted to practice in Connecticut and New York.

Melvin L Bloomenthal is a practicing lawyer in the state of Connecticut handling estate and personal injury matters.

Annemette enjoys criminal defense work, family law and personal injury work. She regularly appears in all Connecticut courts defending those charged with committing a criminal offense, handling contested family cases, and handling personal injury trials. Annemette excels at cross examination of witnesses, jury selection and personal injury litigation. She has represented children and parents in the juvenile and criminal courts, special education proceedings, before the Department of Children and Families and regularly appears in all Connecticut courts. She excels at highly contested cases, and contentious matters, and is admitted to practice in all Connecticut state courts and was admitted to the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut in 2002. Annemette graduated from Quinnipiac School of Law where she was an active participant in the volunteer tax assistance program. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Southern Connecticut State University in 1998. She is active with the Connecticut Pro Bono Network, and is multilingual, speaking English and German.Annemette enjoys spending time with her family, including karate tournaments with her children, walking her dog, and time at the beach. Her interests include animal rights, vegetarianism, and child protection, among others.