Debra A Sahler

New York and New Jersey lawyer Debra A. Sahler focuses her practice in product liability, personal injury litigation, and commercial liability. Since beginning her legal career in the Attorney General’s office in New York, she has handled numerous trials and appeals in both New York and New Jersey.

Her representation of entities in litigation includes personal injury claims, contract disputes, consumer fraud claims, and property damage claims. She routinely defends Fortune 50 companies and municipalities against tort claims, employment discrimination actions, slip and fall, and automobile liability claims. She has defended a telecommunications company in litigation involving the Tariffs filed with the Board of Utilities, loss of service and various telecommunication acts. She has also represented  plaintiffs in serious personal injury and product liability claims.

Ms. Sahler litigates claims from inception until verdict or settlement, including conducting depositions of parties and experts, participating in settlement negotiations, drafting discovery responses and demands, and drafting appellate briefs. She has obtained jury verdicts for defendants and plaintiffs involving premise liability, products liability, automobile and construction accidents and municipal liability in New York and New Jersey Courts. In addition to personal injury and product liability litigation, Ms. Sahler has been involved in administrative law proceedings and has appeared before state regulatory agencies and commissions. She successfully argued Feldman v. Kings Hero Restaurant 270 A.D.2d 1, 703 N.Y.S.2d 476 (1st  Dept. 2000) and Whack v. St. Mary's Hospital of Brooklyn, 2003 NY Slip Op 50026U(2003) (dealing with the standard of care for a dead body). She successfully briefed Kosher Konnection, Inc. v. Allegiance Telcom of New Jersey 182 N.J. 145, 862 A.2d 55 (2004) in the New Jersey Supreme Court.

A highly regarded commercial attorney, Ms. Sahler combines her litigation expertise with a solid understanding of the issues faced by business owners, both in this country and abroad. Her experience includes representation of business entities, review of leases, vendor agreements, draft partnership agreements, buy/sell agreements, letters of credit, securing clearances from customs, and performing general counsel representation for international corporations. Ms. Sahler is intimately familiar with the interpretation of insurance policy clauses and the court’s application of these clauses, counseling her clients on the proper course of action with regard to indemnification issues and obtaining the proper amount of insurance coverage.

Ms. Sahler is the author of “Scientifically Selecting Jurors While Maintaining Professional Responsibility,” 6 Alb. LJ Sci. & Tech. 383 (1996). She is a frequent presenter to business organizations, and has lectured on business formation and business planning for women. She is the author of “Protect Your Customers, Protect Yourself - a Review of New Jersey’s Identity Theft Protection Act,” in Somerset Business Magazine, May 2007.  

Ms. Sahler holds a B.A. from the University at Albany and a J. D. from Albany Law School Union University, where she served as Note and Comment Editor for the Albany Law Journal of Science and Technology. She is admitted to practice in New Jersey, the United States District Court of New Jersey, New York, and the United States District Court of the Southern District and Eastern District of New York. She is a member of the New York State Trial Lawyers Association and the North Jersey Claims Association.

A member of the Board of Directors of the New Jersey Women Lawyers, Ms. Sahler co-chairs the organization's Gender Equity Task Force and was co-chair of the 2009 New Jersey Women Lawyers’ Gala. Her community activities include the Executive Women Golf Association and Women on the Move, a philanthropic organization. She has served as President and a member of the Board of Directors of the Park View Townhouse Association. She studied Restaurant Management at the Culinary Institute of America, Hyde Park, New York, and is a graduate of the Mahwah Community Police Academy.