Hon. Michael J. Dontzin (Ret.), JAMS Chief Judicial Officer in New York City, has resolved thousands of commercial, employment, insurance, Lanham Act, mass tort, and other cases as mediator, arbitrator, mini-trial neutral, advisor, and mock trial judge. In 1990, Judge Dontzin presided over an experimental program at the Appellate Division, First Department, conducting pre-argument settlement conferences for all civil matters on appeal. Immediately prior to leaving the bench, he presided over an experimental Trial Assignment Part in which his primary function was to settle backlogged cases prior to assigning them for trial.
ADR Experience and Qualifications
- Business Dissolution: Regularly mediates and arbitrates law and accounting firm breakups as well as the dissolution of other small and large commercial concerns, including family owned businesses
- Commercial Litigation: For a period of six years as Justice of the Supreme Court, Justice Dontzin presided over a Protracted Litigation Part involving complex commercial cases
- Construction: Mediates construction defect and New York Labor Law cases for public and private institutions alike; most cases involve multiple insurance carriers and professional liability claims
- Employment: Mediates age, sex, and gender discrimination claims as well as harassment and reasonable accommodation cases (ADA)
- Entertainment: Successfully mediated and arbitrated numerous claims involving several high-profile parties in the movie, television, and publishing industries
- Environmental: Mediates air and waterway pollution claims involving multiple carriers and issues of allocation
- Franchise: Settled hundreds of unfair dealing claims brought by distributors against major tool manufacturers and arbitrated disputes involving the fast food industry
- Insurance/Re-Insurance Coverage: Most of the cases before Judge Dontzin involve insurance coverage issues; he has helped hundreds of carriers reach settlement
- Intellectual Property: Settles copyright infringement and other intellectual property matters involving movie scripts, books, and songs
- Lanham Act: Arbitrated more than a hundred cases involving Lanham Act advertising violations by long distance telephone companies
- Maritime: Mediated many claims involving the Jones Act, unseaworthy claims, maintenance and cure, and many others
- Mass Torts/Class Action: As Settlement Master, Judge Dontzin settled thousands of L-Tryptophan cases from Bangor, ME to San Diego, CA. He settled nearly 200 wrongful death actions arising out of an Albuterol class action.
- Personal Injury: Arbitrated and mediated thousands of personal injury cases, including many permanent disability claims against multiple insurance companies
- Product Liability: Settled individual and class action products liability cases involving everything from automobiles to washing machines to pharmaceuticals
- Professional Liability: On a weekly basis, Judge Dontzin hears medical, legal, accountant, D & O, and architect liability cases
Representative Matters
- Successful mediation of major lawsuit brought by stockholders against Martha Stewart and her company
- Various successful arbitrations and mediations of claims made by former executives of major banks and security companies regarding bonuses and stock options
- Multiple arbitrations and successful mediations arising out of complex commercial real estate development disputes
- A successful mediation arising out of the dispute between an international airline and aircraft service organizations both in the United States and abroad
- Successful mediation in disputes among family members of prominent commercial real estate property owners
- Mediations of discrimination in employment disputes involving banks, security firms, and television companies
- Arbitrated a music industry dispute between a major management company and a popular, successful urban music group
- Mediation of disputes in the entertainment industry including those involving studios, artistic directors, and musicians
- Multiple mediations in commercial family disputes over businesses
- Arbitration of a multi-million dollar accounting claim arising out of a joint venture to develop gas fields in the west