Michael Gogal represents companies and individuals in environmental, tort defense, commercial, employment and criminal defense matters.

Mike began his legal career focusing on criminal defense, and brings with him a wealth of trial experience, having tried cases in federal and state courts. He has litigated criminal matters, commercial disputes, and selected tort and product liability defense matters.

In the area of environmental law, Mike has litigated cases involving the New Jersey Spill Act and various New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection regulations. He has handled a variety of other environmental compliance matters in New Jersey and throughout the Northeast. In the area of employment law, Mike has litigated cases involving the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination, Title VII, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, CEPA, employment torts, and wage and hour laws.

Beyond his work in the courtroom, Mike has represented companies and individuals before the New Jersey Division of Civil Rights, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and various state agencies. He has also represented employers and employees in arbitrations and mediations. In addition, Mike represents clients in criminal matters, and has written and argued appeals before the Appellate Division in New Jersey.

Mike drafts commercial documents and counsels his clients in a wide variety of commercial, employment and labor matters, drawing upon his litigation experience to resolve their legal issues and to offer his clients insights for business development. In some instances, Mike serves as outside general counsel for his clients.

Recently, Mike has:

• Represented a growing company in negotiating a complex line of credit and related agreements with an international bank, resulting in $1.7 million of financing
• Negotiated the sale of a client's contaminated property to a major Northeast municipality along with the assignment of all remediation responsibilities to the municipality and indemnification rights from the municipality
• Obtained the a finding of "no probable cause" from the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights on a complaint alleging discrimination in the company's re-hiring decisions after a layoff
• Successfully defended an appeal of a jury’s finding of no cause against his client in a New York labor matter, avoiding a multi-million dollar verdict on the issue of "grave injury"
• Obtained dismissal of an EEOC Charge of Discrimination alleging national origin discrimination
• Convinced a federal judge to transfer venue for a criminal defendant accused of money laundering to the defendant's home jurisdiction in Puerto Rico
• Represented international corporations in separate litigations involving products liability claims involving consumer and industrial equipment

• Environmental Law
• Tort and Product Liability Defense
• Commercial Law
• Labor and Employment Law
• Criminal Defense

• New Jersey
• New York
• District of Columbia

• U.S. District Court, District of New Jersey
• U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York
• U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York

• Rutgers School of Law (J.D. 1996; Articles Editor, Rutgers Computer and Technology Law Journal)
• Rutgers University (B.A. 1993, magna cum laude)