Jeff is a principal at Gray Plant Mooty and member of the Franchise & Distribution and Business & General Litigation practice groups. Prior to entering private practice, he served for nine years as a trial attorney for the Torts Branch, Civil Division, U.S. Department of Justice, where he defended actions brought against the federal government under the Federal Tort Claims Act and Privacy Act.
Jeff has litigated a wide variety of commercial cases in the franchise context involving issues of financial fraud, underreporting of sales, wrongful discharge, conversion, and market withdrawal. He has also defended a number of tort and product liability actions involving hot beverage spills, premises liability, wrongful death, invasion of privacy, and defamation. During his government service, Jeff worked on several policy issues, including lawsuits brought by municipal governments against handgun manufacturers and whether the Federal Tort Claims Act should be applied to federal banking agencies acting as the receiver or conservator of failed financial institutions. In addition, Jeff was an adjunct professor in the Legal Research and Writing program at the George Washington University Law School from 2004-2007.
Representative Cases
Published opinions include:
- Dunkin' Donuts Franchised Restaurants, LLC v. Agawam Donuts, Inc., 2008 WL 619399 (D. Mass. 2008)
- Moghaddam v. Dunkin' Donuts, Inc., 332 F. Supp.2d 44 (D. Mass 2004)
- Baskin-Robbins, Inc., v. Taj California, Inc., 2003 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 19943 and 2003 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 19946 (D.C. Cal. 2003)
- Brock v. Baskin-Robbins, USA Co., 2003 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3840 (E.D. Tex. 2003)
- In re Franklin Savings Corp., 2002 Bankr. LEXIS 1583 (D. Kansas 2002)
- Wu v. Dunkin’ Donuts, 2001 U.S. LEXIS 2544 (2nd Cir. 2001)
- Doe v. United States, 83 F. Supp. 2d 833 (S.D. Tex. 2000)
- Kaplan v. United States, 1998 U.S. App. LEXIS 26209 (9th Cir. 1998)
- Haney v. Castle Meadows, Inc., 868 F. Supp. 1233 (D. Colo. 1995)
- Schneider v. United States, 1993 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 20139 (D. Minn. 1993)
- Fahl v. United States Dep’t of the Interior, 792 F. Supp. 80 (D. Ariz. 1992)
Education
- Washington College of Law at American University, J.D., 1989
Moot Court Board, president, 1988-1989 - University of Maryland, M.A., 1986
- University of California, Santa Barbara, cum laude, 1984
Bar Admissions
- District of Columbia
- California
- U.S. Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals, Third Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit
- U.S. District Court, District of Columbia
- U.S. District Court, Central District of California
- U.S. District Court, District of Colorado
- U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Texas
- U.S. Court of Federal Claims
Professional Activities
- The District of Columbia Bar
- State Bar of California
- Law clerk for the Hon. Alvin I. Krenzler
U.S. District Court, Northern District of Ohio