John Doroghazi, Esq.
John is a Partner in the Litigation Department. He focuses his practice on franchise, class action, and other commercial disputes. Although he relishes trial work, his first concern is cost-effectively securing the ideal business solution for his client.
He has served as lead litigator for one of the nation’s leading franchisors and has successfully defended that client and others in a variety of high-stakes franchise-related litigation brought by current and former franchisees, consumers, vendors, and development agents. John’s extensive trial and arbitration experience includes being part of a trial team that successfully defended a major franchisor in arbitrations related to a multimillion-dollar contract dispute; successfully obtaining dismissal of a RICO class action brought by a putative class of franchisees against the former owner of a franchise system; and defeating a motion for preliminary injunction brought on behalf of over a hundred franchisees.
John’s other primary focus is defending insurance companies, hospitals, banks, franchisors, and financial service companies from both nationwide and state-specific consumer class actions. Among other things, John has served as lead counsel in a series of nationwide class actions brought against a franchisor for its marketing practices.
For a number of years, Chambers USA Franchise Law – Nationwide has listed John as an "Up and Coming Practitioner," where one client praised him for “telling me what I need to hear and not what I want to hear." While another client said, "he doesn't give up until he has a good solution or strategy to address our issues." Since 2018, he has been named a “Rising Star” by Benchmark Litigation and has been selected by the Franchise Times as a “Legal Eagle.” Benchmark Litigation further recognized John on its 2018 and 2019 "40 & Under Hot List."
John writes and speaks extensively on franchise and consumer class action issues, including co-authoring the Connecticut chapter of an upcoming edition of the Franchise Desk Book. He also has deep knowledge of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), which imposes potentially staggering liability on companies who engage in relatively routine marketing. Drawing from his litigation experience, John works with clients in a variety of industries to assess their marketing practices and develop practical changes that minimize forward-looking risk.
John is the immediate-past Chair of the Connecticut Bar Association's Franchise and Dealership section and an article editor for the Franchise Law Journal.
John received his J.D. magna cum laude from Washington University School of Law, where he was an articles editor at the Washington University Law Quarterly. After law school, he was a clerk to the Honorable Jean C. Hamilton, U.S. District Judge for the Eastern District of Missouri. John received his degree magna cum laude in English and History from Boston College.
John serves on the board of New Haven Legal Aid and has represented clients on a number of pro bono matters, such as recovering security deposits for low-income renters, protecting Native American prisoners’ religious rights, seeking damages for false arrest and wrongful prosecution, and returning children to parents in cross-border custody disputes.