Donald A. Ottaunick is a member of the firm’s Litigation Department and is certified by the Supreme Court of New Jersey Board on Attorney Certification as a Civil Trial Attorney.

Experience

Don is experienced in a wide variety of litigation matters and has tried more than 100 cases in the state and federal courts of New Jersey and New York. In addition to handling commercial litigation matters, Don handles complex medical malpractice and catastrophic injury cases on behalf of plaintiffs. He also represents businesses in significant liability matters where those companies are either self-insured or when they have been denied coverage by their insurance carriers. Don also handles the related coverage disputes against the insurance carriers.

Don acts as personal counsel to physicians and health care practices who have been named as defendants in medical malpractices cases where the damages claimed are in excess of their insurance limits and works to protect their personal assets from settlement or judgment. He also represents life sciences companies in mass tort, products liability and other matters on a national level.

A former Essex County assistant prosecutor, Don also represents health care professionals in the defense of insurance fraud claims brought by the Centers for Medicare Services, the New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance, the New Jersey Insurance Fraud Prosecutor and private insurance companies. He also handles a wide range of insurance coverage matters for health care professionals, large and small businesses and individuals, including property and casualty, healthcare, ERISA matters and disability claims.

Don has extensive experience in the area of professional negligence, successfully litigating legal and accounting malpractice matters on behalf of plaintiffs and defendants. Don also represents and counsels professionals in coverage disputes with their insurance carriers.

Representative Matters

A Member of the firm since 1995, Don has achieved a high level of success in his litigation practice, including:

• Representing a large health science company in a national mass tort litigation involving more than 700 cases alleging injuries related to a popular dietary supplement
• Obtaining multiple seven-figure verdicts and settlements in complex medical malpractice and catastrophic injury claims, including a $6.5 million verdict in a Monmouth County medical malpractice case involving an extensive bowel perforation following a cesarean section delivery and, most recently negotiating a $5.5 million dollar settlement in a substantial medical malpractice matter in Essex County involving significant bowel related injuries and a $2.5 million dollar settlement in a wrongful death case in Bergen County
• Representing a publicly traded health science company in the defense of hundreds of employee injury and illness claims following a plant closing
• Representing a trucking company in bankruptcy in the defense of approximately 100 personal injury claims filed across the United States

Networks & Affiliations

Don often lectures on topics of professionalism in the law, trial techniques and health insurance fraud. He is a member of St. John’s University School of Law’s Alumni Board of Directors.

Honors & Awards

Don has been awarded an AV rating from Martindale-Hubbell for the quality of his legal work.

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