Vinita is an Associate in Archer’s Environmental Law Practice Group, where she specializes in complex environmental litigation, products liability claims, and toxic torts. She brings to bear her scientific knowledge and experience. Vinita concentrates her practice on pursuing and defending complex environmental matters, focusing on issues related to corporate successorship and liability, cleanup and response costs, soil and groundwater contamination, diminution in value to property, and Natural Resource Damages. Vinita is experienced in all phases of litigation, including drafting pleadings, drafting discovery requests and responses, managing large scale document reviews and productions, motion practice, and trial preparation.
Prior to joining Archer, Vinita was a litigation and trial associate at a boutique trial firm specializing in products liability defense, medical device, and multi-plaintiff litigation. She was on a defense team representing a Fortune 500 medical device manufacturer facing a multi-district litigation (MDL) with over 5000 plaintiffs. The defense team secured complete summary judgment for the manufacturer, and was recognized as Minnesota Attorneys of the Year in 2019 for the success dismissal of all plaintiffs in the MDL.
Vinita received her law degree from the University of Minnesota Law School, where she worked as a Student Advocate representing and defending students accused of misconduct on campus such as plagiarism, academic dishonesty, dormitory violations, as well as sexual harassment and sexual assault. Vinita served as Co-President of the South Asian Law Student Association, as well as the Articles Editor of the Minnesota Journal of Law, Science & Technology. She was the recipient of the University of Minnesota Public Service Award and the Ramsey County Bar Association Diversity Scholarship.
While at the University of Minnesota Law School, Vinita served as a law clerk at the University of Minnesota Office of the General Counsel, working on issues of intellectual property, regulatory compliance, and contractual relations. She was a law clerk at a patent prosecution firm, working on patents related to medical devices, gene sequences, and agricultural inventions. Vinita served as a judicial extern to then-Chief Judge Michael Davis in the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota. Vinita is also pursuing a legal fellowship with the American Red Cross’s International Humanitarian Law Team in Washington, DC.
Articles and Presentations
- Staying Out of Ethical Hot Water, Minnesota Litigators’ Discovery Playbook: Depositions, E-Discovery, Subpoenas, and More (May 24, 2023)(virtual).
- Co-Presenter, The Post-Bellum Big Stick: How recognition of the Taliban may provide greater protections to civilians and impel greater adherence to international laws and norms, Lessons from Afghanistan: International Conference, hosted by Leiden University, The Netherlands (Virtual) (December 2021)
- Co-presenter, Ethics in Environmental Law, New Jersey State Bar Association Environmental Law Section Forum (June 18, 2021) (Virtual).
- Author, 1st Barrett Opinion Makes Gov’t Privilege Broader And Murkier, Law360 (March 2021)
- Contract Fundamentals A to Z: Breach of Contract and Choice of Law, Minnesota State Bar Association (September 2019)
- Complex Commercial Disputes: Lessons in Strategic Risk Assessment and Mitigation, Minnesota State Bar Association (August 2019)
- Cybersecurity and Medical Devices, Minnesota State Bar Association, Food, Drug and Device Section (November 2016/November 2018 )
- Litigating Hate Crimes, Minnesota State Bar Association (December 2017)
- The International Biologics Landscape: Providing New Meaning for the Doha Declaration, MID-ATLANTIC L. & SOC’Y ASSOC., John Jay College of Criminal Justice, NY (October 2015)
- Environmental Justice in Regional Transportation Plans, L., PROPERTY, SOC’Y, University of Georgia School of Law, Athens, GA (May 2015)
- Establishing an International Climate Court, 34 J. ENVTL. L. & LITIG. (2019)
- Biosimilars: Countering Shortages of Biotherapies in a Global and Local Context, 57 IDEA: FRANKLIN PIERCE FOR INTELL. PROP. (2017)
- Neglected Diseases: How Intellectual Property Can Incentivize New Treatment, 16 CHI-KENT INTELL. PROP. 241 (2016)
- Note, Biosimilar Regulation: Bringing the S. Up to Speed with Other Markets, 16 MINN. J.L. SCI & TECH (2015)