Charles M. Hart
Partner
Duane Morris LLP
1940 Route 70 East, Suite 200
Cherry Hill, NJ 08003
USA
Phone: +1 856 874 4275
Fax: +1 215 405 2548
Email: chart@duanemorris.com

Charles M. Hart concentrates his practice in the areas of commercial and securities litigation and counseling, class action defense and intellectual property litigation. With more than a dozen years' experience in state and federal trial and appellate courts, Mr. Hart has defended numerous complex class actions, notably in the consumer and civil rights areas. Mr. Hart has counseled clients in consumer protection laws and related matters. Mr. Hart has also defended directors and officers and corporate entities in securities fraud actions in state and federal courts. He has also successfully litigated numerous industry arbitrations before FINRA and its predecessor entities, the New York Stock Exchange and the National Association of Securities Dealers. He has also successfully handled numerous trademark and patent cases for both plaintiffs and defendants. In business tort and employment litigation, he has represented both plaintiffs and defendants in suits alleging breaches of fiduciary duty, misappropriation of trade secrets and breaches of restrictive covenants. He has also successfully represented pro bono clients in state courts in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, before the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans’ Claims and before the Third Circuit Court of Appeals.

Prior to entering private practice, Mr. Hart served as law clerk to U.S. District Judge Stephen M. Orlofsky of the District of New Jersey.

Areas of Practice

• Securities Litigation/Arbitration
• Class Action Defense
• Appellate Practice
• Intellectual Property Litigation

Representative Matters

Securities Litigation/Arbitration

• Represented securities broker-dealer in defense of claims brought by the liquidation trustee of a bankrupt investment manager under the '34 Act and common law in connection with the sale of collateralized debt obligations (CDOs).
• Defended officers and directors of a major university health system against claims of breach of fiduciary duty brought by bondholders.
• Brought an arbitration claim on behalf of an NYSE specialist against a former specialist whose business the client had purchased seeking indemnity for costs incurred in connection with Securities and Exchange Commission investigation into claims of "front-running" and other violations.
• Prosecuted claims before FINRA against broker/dealers for unpaid fees and interest owed to a specialist firm. Obtained order requiring broker/dealers to pay back fees.
• Represented broker/dealer in various actions for breach of employment contracts brought before FINRA by former employees.
• Defended directors and officers and the startup company they formed against charges of breach of fiduciary duty and conspiracy brought by a competitor for which they had formerly served as directors.

Class Actions

• Defended a major regional energy service company in multiple class actions in four states alleging violations of consumer protection laws and related common law claims.
• Defended governor and other state officials in wide-ranging civil rights class action, including defeating plaintiffs' motion for preliminary injunctive relief, leading to eventual settlement on terms acceptable to the state.
• Defended a major regional grocery chain in a putative class action alleging violations of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act, defeating class certification despite the existence of numerous precedents in which classes were certified.
• Participated in the defense of multiple class actions brought against a major issuer of consumer credit cards alleging breach of contract and consumer fraud. After the cases were consolidated in multidistrict litigation in the defendant's home district, a reasonable class-wide settlement was reached.

Intellectual Property

• Obtained summary judgment of noninfringement for a major gaming-equipment manufacturer in a patent infringement action seeking more than $150 million in damages. Argued in support of the judgment on appeal to the Federal Circuit, which affirmed. CIAS, Inc. v. Alliance Gaming Corp., 504 F.3d 1356, 84 U.S.P.Q.2d 1737 (Fed. Cir. 2007), cert. denied, 2008 WL 206981 (Apr. 28, 2008).
• Prosecuted a Section 337 action involving a design patent before the U.S. International Trade Commission, resulting in a limited exclusion order issued by the ITC against the respondents' infringing products.

Admissions

• New Jersey
• Pennsylvania
• Supreme Court of the United States
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
• U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey
• U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania

Education

• Rutgers School of Law, J.D., with honors, 1995
• New York University, B.A., magna cum laude, 1980

Experience

• Duane Morris LLP
  - Partner, 2009-present
• WolfBlock LLP
  - Partner, 2005-2009
  - Associate, 1997-2005

Selected Publications

• Co-author, "Class Action Waivers Declared Enforceable by the U.S. Supreme Court," Duane Morris Alert, April 29, 2011
• "Recent Developments in Law of Deepening Insolvency," Law360, November 24, 2009
• Co-author, "Credit Card Class Action Litigation," Review of Banking and Financial Services, Consumer Financial Services Litigation 1999, Practising Law Institute