Todd Michael Hooker

Mr. Hooker's practice is focused primarily on representing businesses and individuals that are planning, prosecuting, or defending litigation.  He has a broad range of experience in representing business clients in all manner of disputes and has successfully litigated cases involving commercial transactions, shareholder oppression, business torts and environmental contamination.  Mr. Hooker has also represented executors and beneficiaries in estate litigation, and families that are facing the challenge of a divorce.  Mr. Hooker brings a practical and results oriented approach to his practice that includes helping clients avoid issues before they arise.

In business and commercial litigation cases, Mr. Hooker has litigated claims for breach of contract, commercial landowner liability, violation of non-compete agreements, broker fee claims, minority shareholder oppression, interference with contract, and product liability and defective materials used in the manufacturing process. He has also represented business clients in insurance coverage cases where policyholders are seeking coverage for a wide variety of harms.

In environmental cases, Mr. Hooker has represented clients facing enforcement proceedings from state and federal environmental agencies.  He also has experience in the defense of complex multi-party litigation involving contaminated sites, and he has directed the medical causation defense in a toxic tort case where bodily harm from exposure to hazardous substances was alleged.  Mr. Hooker has also advised and assisted clients on how the Industrial Site Recovery Act (ISRA) and other state and federal laws impact on real estate transactions and how to best protect the rights of his clients when property is being transitioned in or out of their asset portfolios.

In estate litigation cases, Mr. Hooker has litigated claims alleging undue influence, lack of capacity, breach of fiduciary duty, and violation of the Prudent Investor Act.  In family law cases, Mr. Hooker has litigated claims involving the value of a family business, deferred compensation and stock options, and real property holdings, as well as disputes over custody, alimony and child support.

Mr. Hooker was recently appointed to the New Jersey State Bar Association's Commercial Litigation Committee, and he has served as a Vice Chair of the Environmental Litigation and Toxic Tort Committee of the American Bar Association’s Section of Energy, Environment, and Resources.  Mr. Hooker has also served as a visiting lecturer at the Rutgers University School of Law, and he has had legal articles published in the New Jersey Law Journal, New Jersey Business Magazine, Commerce Magazine, The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel, and in The Environmental Compliance & Litigation Strategist, in addition to articles published by the American Bar Association.

Prior to entering law school, Mr. Hooker served in the United States Army from 1988 to 1995. He served as an infantry paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne Division, and is a veteran of the first Gulf War. Mr. Hooker also did a stint as a research assistant at the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID), in Fort Detrick, Maryland, where he assisted in the production and characterization of monoclonal antibodies, and in in vivo and in vitro toxicological studies.

Education 

• University of Maryland School of Law (J.D., 1998 (Order of the Coif))

Admitted to Practice 

• New Jersey
• U.S. District Court, District of New Jersey
• United States Supreme Court
• AdmittedPro Hac Vice in various U.S. District Courts and State Courts

Professional Associations & Memberships 

• Rutgers University School of Law, Newark, Visiting Lecturer
• New Jersey State Bar Association
• Sussex County Bar Association
• American Legion, Branchville Post 157

Community Service

• Frankford Township Open Space Committee
• Branchville Bomber Youth Wrestling Head Coach
• The TREE Fund
• New Jersey Tree Foundation