Thomas E. Sanchez
Special Counsel
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Phone: +1 412 497 1036
- Duane Morris LLP
625 Liberty Avenue, Suite 1000
Pittsburgh, PA 15222-3112
USA
Thomas E. Sanchez represents corporate clients from various industries in complex commercial litigation. He has experience handling complex single-plaintiff and class actions from inception through trial and appeal, including in cases involving contract disputes, business torts, product liability, patent infringement, unfair competition, business dissolution matters, noncompete and nonsolicitation agreements, and oil and gas energy litigation. In addition to his trial court appearances, Mr. Sanchez also has had lead responsibility for appellate briefing before the Third Circuit and Pennsylvania’s Supreme and Superior Courts.
Prior to entering private practice, Mr. Sanchez clerked for the Hon. Yvette Kane of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania.
Mr. Sanchez is a 2011 magna cum laude graduate of the University of New Hampshire Franklin Pierce School of Law, where he was chief articles editor of the University of New Hampshire Law Review, and a magna cum laude graduate of Allegheny College.
Admissions
- Pennsylvania
- New Hampshire
- U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania
- U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania
- U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio
- U.S. District Court for the District of New Hampshire
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
Education
- University of New Hampshire School of Law, J.D., magna cum laude, 2011
- Chief Articles Editor, University of New Hampshire Law Review - Allegheny College, B.A., magna cum laude, 2007
Experience
- Duane Morris LLP
- Special Counsel, 2021-present - Eckert Seamans
- Member, 2020-2021
- Associate, 2018-2020; 2013-2017 - Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP
- Associate, 2017-2018 - U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania
- Law Clerk to the Hon. Yvette Kane, 2011-2013
Honors and Awards
Named to Best Lawyers "Ones to Watch," 2021-2025
Selected Publications
- Author, "Transfer of State-Law Claims From Federal to State Court in Pa.: Avoiding the Default Trap of 42 Pa. C.S. Section 5103," The Legal Intelligencer, September 12, 2024
- Author, "The State of Class Representative Incentive Awards After 'Johnson v. NPAS Solutions'," The Legal Intelligencer, August 25, 2023
Author, "Future of Class Representative Incentive Awards After 'Johnson v. NPAS Solutions'," The Legal Intelligencer, August 25, 2022
“‘No-hire’ provision in commercial contract between two businesses is unenforceable in Pennsylvania,” Wolters Kluwer, May 19, 2021
“Overbroad “No-Hire” (a/k/a “No-Poach”) Provision Unenforceable in Pennsylvania: Five Takeaways from the Winning Trial Team at Eckert Seamans,” Eckert Seamans’ Legal Update, May 13, 2021
“Brito v. Major Energy Electric Services, LLC,” Eckert Seamans’ Energy Supplier Litigation Blog, January 14, 2021
“Best Practices for Challenging Venue Transfer Orders,” ACBA Lawyers Journal, 2018
Co-author, “Best Practices for Avoiding Spoliation,” Law 360, 2015
Note, “London, Libel Capital No Longer?,” 9 U.N.H. L. Rev. 469, 2011
Media Hits
“Steel Transportation Contract Spat Staying In Pa.” Law360, May 20, 2021
“How Eckert Seamans Won Pa. Employment Freedom Case,” Law360, May 4, 2021
“Pa. High Court Points Way To Valid Employer No-Poach Deals,” Law360, April 30, 2021
“Pennsylvania Top Court Blocks No-Poach Terms in Contract,” Bloomberg Law, April 29, 2021
“Broad ‘No-Poaching’ Agreement Is Unenforceable, Pa. Supreme Court Rules,” The Legal Intelligencer, April 29, 2021
“Pa. Justices Bar No-Hire Clauses Between Businesses,” Law360, April 29, 2021
Selected Speaking Engagements
“Preparing and Defending Against Motions to Transfer Venue,” Eckert Seamans CLE, 2017
Representative Matters
Represented Expand Energy (formerly Southwestern Energy) in securing a motion for summary judgment from the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania in a fracking dispute concerning the Rule of Capture where plaintiffs asserted continuing tort claims based upon subsurface physical intrusion. The judge held that the client’s leasehold rights to the property invalidated plaintiff’s claims of trespass and conversion, and thus Pennsylvania’s rule of capture applied. This may be the first Pennsylvania decision to support the assertion that hydraulic fracking activities do not constitute a continuing trespass.
Obtained a jury verdict following consolidated trials in the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania on behalf of clients Beemac, Inc. and Deemac Services, LLC, which initiated their lawsuits against Republic Steel after it failed to pay substantial amounts due for interstate trucking and logistics services. The Court entered partial summary judgment in the amount of $2.5 million in favor of clients for damages on their breach of contract claims and set the remaining damage claims for trial, where the jury’s verdict of $1.4 million in additional damages will result in a total judgment in favor of Beemac and Deemac in excess of $3.9 million.