Mr. Dugan has been in practice since 1977, with the firm since 1982, and a member of the firm since 1987. He concentrates his practice in trials and appeals involving all manner of commercial and business disputes. He has extensive experience litigating before state and federal courts nationwide, including bankruptcy courts and Orphans court. He regularly represents individuals, businesses, and government entities in complex cases involving a myriad of issues, including breaches of contract, commercial real estate (lease violations, title disputes, and mortgage foreclosures), employment (such as wrongful termination, age, sex and race discrimination claims and enforcement of restrictive covenants), civil rights, bankruptcy litigation, estate litigation, unfair competition, securities law, fraud and lender liability.
Recent noteworthy cases he has handled included a $4 million plus judgment obtained for a client in a legal malpractice action in Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas and the successful resolution of a $10 million plus claim for life insurance proceeds on behalf of a client whose wife drown in the Ganges River, India. The latter claims involved numerous insurance companies, were litigated in both state and federal courts in Philadelphia and required the taking of numerous depositions in India. After obtaining a verdict in favor of my client in federal court, Mr. Dugan negotiated a successful settlement with the remaining insurers in state court.
Prior to joining Spector Gadon & Rosen, Mr. Dugan practiced law in Washington, D.C. in private practice representing businesses and individuals in litigation in state and federal courts on matters ranging from application of energy-related regulations to defamation. Prior to that, he spent a short time with the Department of Energy's Office of General Counsel where he represented the department in litigation to enforce the department's regulations, advised on strategies and enforcement, and drafted energy-related regulations. Mr. Dugan began his career as a law clerk for the Honorable Oren R. Lewis, United States District Court Judge for the Eastern District of Virginia at Alexandria.
Mr. Dugan has been admitted to the bars of Pennsylvania, the District of Columbia, Virginia, North Carolina, the United States Supreme Court, the United States Courts of Appeal for the Third, Fourth, Fifth, Ninth, Tenth and District of Columbia Circuits, and various United States District Courts. Mr. Dugan has written and published articles on business and employment topics and lectured regularly on the same topics to business and professional groups. He has also served six years as a member of the Diocesan Council for the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania and was recently Senior Warden for Church of the Holy Apostles, Penn Wynne.
Graduating in the top third of his class, Mr. Dugan received his J.D. from Duke University Law School. He also holds an A.B. in economics from St. Joseph's College, where he graduated magna cum laude and earned the Delta Sigma Pi Scholarship Key.
