Douglas V. Sanchez
managing partner
New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Florida – Boca Raton
Cruser, Mitchell, Novitz, Sanchez, Gaston & Zimet, LLP
50 Tice Boulevard
Suite 250
Woodcliff Lake, NJ 07677
ABOUT
Douglas V. Sanchez is the managing partner of the New Jersey, Pennsylvania and South Florida offices of Cruser, Mitchell, Novitz, Sanchez, Gaston & Zimet, LLP. He is certified by the Supreme Court of New Jersey as a civil trial attorney and his practice focuses on complex civil litigation. Doug represents self-insured corporations, business entities, public entities, insurance carriers, and individuals in state and federal court litigation claims, involving technology platforms, employment practices, professional liability (legal malpractice and architects & engineers claims), partnership disputes, insurance coverage disputes, gig economy liability, construction defect, and products liability. Doug has tried, mediated, and arbitrated hundreds of cases and is admitted to practice law in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Florida, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Illinois. Doug has a Martindale Hubbell AV rating (the highest possible) and has been named as a Super Lawyer for the past ten years.
Doug has been appointed by a national insurance carrier as its designated catastrophic loss attorney and is New Jersey counsel for a national rideshare company. Doug is also national counsel for an international cosmetics manufacturer, and outside counsel for a Fortune 500 retailer, the fifth largest in the world. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of Trial Attorneys of New Jersey and a co-chairperson of the Bergen County Civil Practice Committee. He previously served as: a member of the District IIA Ethics Committee; member of the Bergen Community College Legal Assistant Advisory Board; adjunct professor at Bergen Community College; and, as a director of the Hispanic Business Council of the Commerce and Industry Association of New Jersey, Inc.
Doug is fluent in Spanish.
Education
Rutgers Law School, J.D., 1989
Fairleigh Dickson University, B.A., 1986
Areas of practice
Litigation Percentage
100% of Practice Devoted to Litigation
Bar Admissions
New Jersey
Florida
Pennsylvania
New York
Connecticut
Massachusetts
Illinois
U.S. District Court, District of New Jersey
U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York
U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York
U.S. District Court, District of Connecticut
U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Pennsylvania
U.S. District Court, Southern District of Florida
U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Michigan
U.S. Court of Appeals, Federal Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals, 2nd Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals, 3rd Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals, 11th Circuit
U.S. Supreme Court
Associations
Trial Attorneys of New Jersey, Board Member
Essex County Superior Court Bar Panel, Member
Supreme Court of New Jersey District II-A Ethics Committee, Member, 2008-2012
Bergen County Fee Arbitration Panel, Chairperson and Panelist, 1997-2000
Philadelphia Bar Association, Member
The Defense Association of New York, Member
Bergen County Bar Association, Trustee, 2009-2018
Bergen County Bar Association, Co-Chair - Federal Practice Committee
Bergen County Bar Association, Co-Chair - Civil Practice Committee
Essex County Bar Association, Member
Bergen County Division of Community Development, Member
Bergen County Community College, Adjunct Professor, 2004-2008
Bergen County Community College Legal Assistant Advisory Board, Member, 2004-2008
Hispanic Business Council Scholarship of NJ, Inc., Legal Counsel
Juvenile Conference Committee Member, 1997-2003
Representative Cases
- Resolved a premises case wherein a woman sustained a frozen shoulder, underwent four surgical procedures, with a recommendation for three subsequent procedures, had medicals near seven figures, and was found to be disabled, for approximately 1% of the $7 million demand, immediately before trial with motions in limine pending.
- Obtained summary judgment in the defense of an attorney in a bad faith/Dragonetti case.
- Successfully obtained a no cause verdict before a three person FINRA arbitration panel involving claims for violations under Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, SEC rule 10b-5, the New Jersey Uniform Securities law (1997), FINRA Rules 2010 and 2020, NASD Rule 3010, and punitive damages. Plaintiff was seeking damages in the excess of $1,000,000.
- Prevailed in a pre-answer motion to dismiss a class action complaint seeking class relief against a supermarket chain for alleged violations of New Jersey’s Truth-in-Consumer Contract Warranty and Notice Act (“TCCWNA”), New Jersey’s Consumer Fraud Act, and New Jersey’s Sales & Use Tax Act thereby avoiding a potential client exposure well into the seven figure range.
- Obtained summary judgment and dismissal of all claims in a case alleging claims for product liability, strict liability, implied warranty, express warranty, negligence, contribution, and indemnification. The pre-trial demand was $5,000,000.00, and it was estimated that trial would take at least ten weeks to complete.
- Obtained a settlement at binding arbitration of more than four times the pre-arbitration offer in a shareholder dispute involving a multi-million dollar German multinational company.
- Obtained a dismissal by way of a F.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6) motion in Federal Court of an entire complaint brought by a student against her former college including claims brought pursuant to Title IV of the Higher Education Act, Title VI and VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act, the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination, and state common law for retaliation, negligence and breach of fiduciary duty.
- Obtained a pre-answer dismissal for an employer in an age discrimination claim venued in Western Pennsylvania.
- Prevailed in the prosecution of an order to show cause, and obtained temporary and permanent injunctive relief prohibiting a former employee from soliciting the employer’s customers, while successfully obtaining an order prohibiting the former employee from using the employer’s confidential information, including customer lists.
- Obtained a dismissal by way of summary judgment in a whistleblower/wrongful discharge claim by a former employee against a public entity involving claims of improper campaign funding.
- Obtained summary judgement dismissing a Dragonetti/bad faith claim against an attorney in eastern Pennsylvania.
- Obtained a dismissal by way of summary judgment in a legal malpractice case involving a complex real estate transaction.
- Obtained a dismissal by way of summary judgment in a race discrimination case against a corporation.
- Obtained summary judgment dismissing with prejudice all claims against a trailer manufacturer in a product liability case involving design defect and failure to warn allegations, by successfully arguing that plaintiff’s liability expert report was a net opinion.
- Obtained a dismissal by way of summary judgment in favor of a police officer in a civil rights case wherein the plaintiffs alleged that the officer used excessive force in fatally shooting the plaintiffs’ decedent, who was armed with a knife. Summary judgment was affirmed by the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, finding that the officer’s conduct was objectively reasonable and, thus, constitutional. Certiorari was denied by the United States Supreme Court.
- In a case of first impression, prevailed on a declaratory judgment action to obtain coverage from an S&P 500 company in which the court declared that an employee was entitled to coverage by the company with a $1,000,000 self-insured retention in its defense of an employment discrimination claim. Full counsel fees were awarded.
- Twice prevailed in the defense of orders to show cause seeking to prohibit the solicitation and recruitment of employees, while successfully obtaining an order that prohibits the solicitation and recruitment of our client’s own employees. The case involved claims for breach of fiduciary duty, shareholder oppression, and suppression of dividends.
- Obtained a dismissal by way of summary judgment in favor of a municipality in a case wherein the plaintiff, a former municipal attorney, claimed he was entitled to lifetime retirement health benefits. The demand was affirmed on appeal.
- Obtained early dismissal by way of a pre-answer motion dismissing all six counts of a counterclaim that alleged breach of contract, breach of implied warranty of good faith, consumer fraud, violations of the New Jersey Plain Language Act, Truth-in Consumer Contract, and Warranty and Notice Act as well as accord and satisfaction.
- Resolved a premises liability claim involving a plaintiff with a frozen shoulder, who underwent four surgical procedures and needed three additional surgeries, with a lien of $300,000. The case settled for 2% of the pre-trial demand the morning our summary judgment motion was to be heard.
- Obtained preliminary injunctive relief, including a prohibition against future solicitation of clients, in a contested employee solicitation/non-compete matter.
- Obtained dismissal by way of a pre-answer motion dismissing all counts of a counterclaim that alleged violations of the Consumer Fraud Act and claims for negligent misrepresentation of material facts.
- Successfully tried to defense verdict a wrongful death action in which the plaintiff’s 5 year-old daughter witnessed her mother’s death as a result of a horrific accident. The plaintiff’s pre-trial demand was $7,000,000 and the trial judge recommended a settlement in excess of $2,000,000.
- Successfully tried to defense verdict a head-on collision involving a commercial truck at a portion of a roadway under construction, resulting in the plaintiff being heli-ported to a local trauma center and undergoing four surgical procedures.
- Successfully tried to defense verdict a medical malpractice claim wherein the plaintiff claimed that a resident physician and nurses should have foreseen a patient’s subsequent criminal conduct and utilized appropriate restraints.
- Successfully tried to defense verdict a medical malpractice claim against an orthopedic surgeon wherein it was claimed that the defendant should have re-implanted plaintiff’s four severed digits.
- Successfully tried to defense verdict a medical malpractice claim wherein it was claimed that a pediatrician and nurses left an intravenous needle in the infant plaintiff’s arm too long, resulting in significant and permanent neurological damage and scarring.
- Successfully tried to defense verdict a premises liability action wherein the plaintiff sustained significant injuries, requiring internal as well as external fixation devices, with a workers’ compensation lien in excess of $100,000. Plaintiff’s pre-trial demand was $500,000.
- Successfully resolved 23 of 24 cases submitted to mediation over a two-day period.
- Successfully tried to defense verdict a premises liability claim wherein the plaintiff and an independent witness claimed the plaintiff slipped and fell due to a dangerous condition caused by the defendant, resulting in significant spinal damage.
- Successfully tried to a verdict of $41,000 (representing the plaintiff’s medical bills) a product liability action wherein the plaintiff sustained multiple ligament tears to both knees, resulting in bilateral knee surgery with a recommendation for total knee replacements. Plaintiff’s pre-trial demand was $500,000.
- Successfully tried to a verdict of $50,000 a product/premises liability claim wherein the plaintiff sustained a traumatic amputation of her left ring finger. Plaintiff’s pre-trial demand was $400,000.
- Prevailed by way of a pre-answer motion seeking to dismiss all counts of a counterclaim that alleged violations of the Consumer Fraud Act and claims for negligent misrepresentation of material facts.
AWARDS & PROFESSIONAL RECOGNITION
Rated among top 5% of lawyers in the state by New Jersey Super Lawyers Magazine, 2010-2022
Martindale Hubbell AV rated (highest professional rating) 2004-2022
PRO BONO ACTIVITIES
Trial Attorneys of New Jersey
Bergen County Bar Association
Fee Arbitration – Chairperson/Member, 1997 – 2000; Juvenile Conference Committee, 1997 – 2003; Supreme Court of New Jersey District II – Ethics Committee Member, 2008-2012; Bergen County Division of Community Development – Member, 2007-2010
LANGUAGES
Spanish
CERTIFICATIONS/SPECIALTIES
Certified Civil Trial Attorney, Supreme Court of N.J., 1994. Recertified in 2009, 2014, and 2019.