Hon. H. Lee Sarokin
Case Manager: Elvira Camacho
Tel: (213) 683-1600 Ext. 37
E-Mail
Judicial Experience
United States Circuit Judge (Third Circuit) 1994-1996
United States District Court Judge (N.J.) 1979-1994
Judicial Activities
Authored over 2,000 written opinions.
Settled approximately 3,000 cases.
Presided over more than 1,000 cases involving all types of federal and diversity jurisdiction issues.
Judge Sarokin, during his seventeen (17) years on the federal bench, has been involved in numerous class action suits, every conceivable federal claim coming before the federal courts and panoply of state issues arising under diversity jurisdiction.
Appointed by Chief Justice Rehnquist to Judicial Conference Committees on judicial improvements, automation, judicial administration and case management.
Twice appointed chair of the Third Circuit Judicial Conference.
Selected as chair of the Quadrennial National Conference of Federal Judges in 1993 and 1997 and served as program chair in 1985 and 1989.
Participant in numerous programs and panels presented to federal judges and lawyers throughout the country.
Professional Career
Partner, Lasser Lasser Sarokin & Hochman 1954-1979
Assistant Union County (N.J.) Counsel 1959-1965
As a practicing attorney, litigated complex cases representing both plaintiffs and defendants for 25 years. Represented the County of Union in all of its litigation and contract negotiations.
Education
B.A. Dartmouth College 1950
J.D. Harvard Law School 1953
Honors and Awards
Recipient of numerous awards for judicial excellence and temperament from lawyer groups and non-profit organizations.
Listed in Who's Who in America and Who's Who in the Law.
Professional Associations (Past and Present)
- American Law Institute
- American Judicature Society, Board Member
- American Bar Association
- New Jersey Bar Association
- Essex County Bar Association
Professional Licenses
Admitted to
- New Jersey (State and Federal)
- Third Circuit Court of Appeals
- United States Supreme Court
Publications
"Chair of the Third Circuit Task Force on Attorneys Fees," 771 F.2d.
"Presumed Innocent? Restrictions on Criminal Discovery in Federal Court Belie This Presumption," 43 Rutgers Law Review 1089 (1991) (co-authored with William E. Zuckerman)
"A Comment on Geoffrey Hazard's Authority in the Dock," 69 B.U. Law Review 477 (1989)
"Beware the Solutions," 90 W. Va. Law Review 1003 (1988)
"Justice Rushed is Justice Ruined," 38 Rutgers Law Review, 431 (1986)
"Recent Innovations in Civil Jury Trial Procedures," Brookings Institution 1993 (co-authored with Tom Munsterman)
Teaching/Lectures
Judge Sarokin has lectured at law schools throughout the country, including Yale and Harvard.
He has participated in educational programs for federal judges throughout the country.
He has served as a panelist and advisor to the Fred Friendly public television series on the U.S. Constitution entitled "A Delicate Balance."
In addition to his many unpublished decisions, opinions by Judge Sarokin have been published in the Federal Reports on the following subjects:
- Cigarette litigation - the Cipollone case - 1st verdict against the tobacco industry
- Defamation
- Class action involving discharge of thousands of employees in violation if ERISA
- Civil RICO
- Age discrimination
- 10b-5 stockholder suits
- Bid rigging
- Environmental claims
- Race discrimination - individual and class action suits
- Breach of contract
- Misrepresentation and fraud
- All forms of insurance coverage
- Taxation
- Products Liability
- Negligence
- Breach of trust
- Pension
- Labor
- Gasoline and other franchises
- Credit discrimination
- Employee insurance coverage
- Attorney-client privilege
- EPA violations
- Corporation takeover litigation
- Civil rights
- Patent - validity and infringement
- Trademark
- Unfair competition
- Sex discrimination and harassment
- Generic drugs - look-a-like drugs
- Petroleum Marketing Practices Act
- Education of the Handicapped Act
- Securities and Exchange Act
- Insurer's duty to defend
- Liability of corporate officers for unpaid withholding
- First Amendment
- Wrongful termination for political activity
- Robinson Patman Act
- Anti-trust and monopoly
- Interstate rates for motor carriers
- Injunctions and other equitable relief
- Zoning regulations and restrictions
- Building contracts
- Securities fraud - individual and class actions
- Pension rights
- Trade regulation
- Co-insurance
- Attorneys fees
- Veterans Benefits
- Federal Tort Claims Act
- Bankruptcy
- Punitive damages
- Frivolous lawsuits and sanctions
- Equal Credit Opportunity Act
- Hague Convention on Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction
- Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act
- Fair Housing Act
- FDIC
- Agency
- Contract and business claims
- Foreclosure Building and construction contracts
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