Jonathan Katz, Attorney

Jonathan Katz graduated from University of Connecticut (B.A. 1975) and received his legal education at Northeastern University School of Law in Boston, Massachusetts (J.D., 1979). Northeastern requires students to perform four quarters of full time cooperative legal work experience. Jonathan joined the predecessor firm, Jacobs, Jacobs & Grudberg, P.C. as a co-op student in March 1979. He became an associate in the fall of 1979, a member of the firm in 1987, President of the firm in 2004, and is still working his last co-op job. Jonathan has been named to The Best Lawyers in America since 2005 in three categories, personal injury, professional malpractice and business litigation. He was named a Super Lawyer by Connecticut Magazine in 2006 in the area of business litigation. Jonathan currently focuses his practice on two areas: representing people who have been seriously injured or killed as a result of medical malpractice, automobile collisions or other torts; and business litigation, typically involving the breakup of closely-held corporations. Jonathan became President of the firm in 2004 and devotes about 20% of his time to firm management issues. Outside the office Jonathan serves as Co-chair of the Branford Clean Energy Task Force. He is married, with three teenage children and a 9 year old stepson. His hobbies include bicycling and whitewater kayaking.

Some of the cases Jonathan has handled are described below:

Medical Malpractice and Personal Injury Litigation

Over the years Jonathan has assisted numerous adults and children to recover for a wide variety of personal injuries caused by medical error, including:

A female Medicaid patient, who was hospitalized over New Year's with pneumonia. She accidentally pulled out her PICC line (peripherally inserted central catheter), and hemorrhaged unobserved for almost an hour. Found unresponsive and in cardiac arrest, she was revived but remains in a coma. The malpractice case against the hospital settled for a confidential amount.

An older woman who required a heart valve replacement because her blood culture results were not properly communicated to, and followed up by, her primary care physician. She had undiagnosed sepsis for weeks, developed bacterial endocarditis and eventually needed open heart surgery.

A woman who sustained an undiagnosed bowel perforation during a hysterectomy. She developed peritonitis, required multiple bowel resections and lived with an open abdomen for a long time before eventually recovering.

A man who sustained a perforated rectum during a laparoscopic prostatectomy. The injury was not diagnosed immediately and the patient suffered a catastrophic infection. He required a temporary colostomy and surgery to repair a ventral hernia.

A woman whose Roux-en-Y gastrojejunostomy was disrupted when she was inappropriately intubated in the Emergency Department following a diabetic complication after bariatric surgery.

A patient who sustained an undiagnosed leaking anastomosis following bariatric surgery, and developed an abscess. Interventional radiology attempted to drain the abscess percutaneously but perforated the bowel causing septic complications.

Jonathan has also represented people who have sustained severe or catastrophic injuries in automobile collisions or through other acts of negligence, including the following:

The estate of a young boy, electrocuted while playing on a utility transformer that was not securely fenced in. A gap in the fence permitted area children to climb on the attractive nuisance.

A man received a serious electric shock in the bathroom of his rented Fairfield County home. The home's attic air conditioner drain was defectively installed, and its drip pan overflowed, flooding wiring buried in the walls in violation of applicable electrical codes. The plaintiff required multiple back operations; his case was resolved in Federal Court.

A young mother was a murder victim, shot dead by her neighbor. The neighbor was found not guilty by reason of insanity. Her estate recovered the neighbor's homeowner's policy, his house, and his cash assets.

A migrant worker sustained third degree burns in a propane explosion in a house trailer. The propane cylinder had been jury-rigged to the trailer to provide winter heat. The claim was resolved against the gas company, the owner of the trailer, and the handyman who made the faulty installation.

A adult with mental retardation attempted to cross a city street on a rainy night. He stepped in front of an oncoming commercial van. He sustained a fracture of the skull, a traumatic brain injury and a fractured vertebra in his spine, and was killed instantly. The van driver never saw the plaintiff. There were no witnesses. There was no evidence that speed was a factor. Plaintiff alleged the driver failed to keep a proper lookout. The case was settled before the start of jury selection.

A tour customer bought a bus ticket on a casino tour to Atlantic City. While he was walking in the aisle the bus driver caused the bus to lurch. Plaintiff fell, striking his head, sustaining a traumatic brain injury and fatal cerebral hemorrhage. Plaintiff was elderly and had prior hydrocephalus, brain surgery and cardiac problems. Plaintiff sued, alleging the bus company was a common carrier of passengers for hire, and owed its passengers a high duty of care to provide safe passage. The case was litigated in Federal Court and settled after fact discovery was complete.

Business Dissolution Litigation

Jonathan's business litigation practice includes representation of a number of clients involved in business dissolution or business divorce litigation, resulting from business owners deciding that they can no longer work together as partners, shareholders or executives. Often such litigation begins with allegations of fraud, breach of contract, violation of an LLC operating agreement or partnership agreement, or violation of the Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act. Resolution frequently involves division of a going business, or a buyout and sellout by which one party acquires the entire business and the other party or parties receive consideration for the value of the business that they are giving up. Examples of cases Jonathan has handled include:

A real estate developer entered into a joint venture agreement with a bank to develop a condominium project. After the condominium had been turned over to the unit owners for management, major construction defects were discovered in the retaining walls throughout the project, requiring a large common assessment to repair. The condominium association sued both developers and they filed cross claims against each other. The litigation was settled when the bank agreed to either buy from, or sell to, its coventurer at the coventurer's stated price. The bank bought, and settled the condominium litigation by providing the association with favorable financing for the necessary repairs.

Jonathan's client, a landlord, had rented real property to a manufacturer on a long term lease. The manufacturer polluted the landlord's property with degreasing solvents. The manufacturer performed a major environmental remediation and contended that all pollution had been cleaned up to applicable standards. In litigation, the landlord proved that the property was still contaminated, could not be cleaned up with presently available technology, and would require many years of groundwater remediation. Landlord claimed damages equal to the cost of the ongoing cleanup plus the diminished value of the real property. Ultimately the case settled when the manufacturer purchased the contaminated property from the landlord.

A heating contractor entered an agreement with a real estate developer to renovate and rent a large abandoned industrial complex. Ultimately the premises were rented to a wide mix of about 100 different tenants, each of whom took a small portion of one of the buildings. The parties had significant disputes about allocation of costs and income from the property, and the developer retained Jonathan's firm to dissolve the agreement and liquidate the property. The case resolved when the heating contractor agreed to offer cash and debt forgiveness to the developer to buy out the developer's interest in the property.

Two members of the same family formed a series of corporations to purchase and operate commercial buildings. They had a falling out and it became necessary to separate their real estate holdings. An attempt to settle the case through a private auction arrangement failed. Jonathan's client sought dissolution and winding up of the corporations. The court ordered a sale of the properties and the parties hired a broker to list them for sale. During the process of listing the properties it became apparent to Jonathan's client that he should purchase all of the real estate interests. At this point the parties were successful in reaching agreement on prices, and Jonathan's client purchased all the interests utilizing seller financing as partial consideration for the resolution of the underlying fraud cases. The remaining financial issues were resolved by price adjustments at closing.

Involvement in Law Firm Management

Jonathan has been involved in the management of his law firm for many years, primarily in the role of problem solver, troubleshooter and major case litigation manager. He also became increasingly active in management of firm finances. He was elected President of the firm in 2004. He has lectured on law office economics and law firm management, and is always willing to discuss issues of law firm management and governance with professional colleagues.

Jonathan brings a broad base of legal experience and practical knowledge to his current clientele. Over the years he has been involved in securities litigation and arbitrations on behalf of public customers, environmental litigation in which he typically represented victims of water and soil pollution, and real estate litigation involving mortgages and tax shelters. He has tried civil cases in the state courts and United States Tax Court, has tried arbitrations involving a variety of subjects, and has argued before the Connecticut Appellate Court and the Connecticut Supreme Court. He has also represented parties before local and state administrative agencies. He is an Attorney State Trial Referee and a Fact finder/Arbitrator for the Judicial District of New Haven. He was a member of the Connecticut Judicial Branch Civil Division Task Force from 1993 to 2004. Mr. Katz is a member of the Connecticut Trial Lawyers Association, where he serves on its medical malpractice committee and its strategic budget committee. He is a member of the Connecticut Bar Association, and the American Association for Justice.

Jonathan is admitted to practice before the courts of the State of Connecticut, the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut, the United States Tax Court, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, and the United States Supreme Court.