Herbert Kruttschnitt III

With over 40 years of trial experience, Mr. Kruttschnitt is one of Dughi, Hewit & Domalewski’s senior trial attorneys.

A partner of the firm, Mr. Kruttschnitt represents physicians and other healthcare providers in malpractice, disciplinary, and licensing disputes, and has tried over 150 cases on behalf of physicians, nurses, hospitals, and long-term-care facilities in almost every New Jersey vicinage.

Prior to joining Dughi, Hewit & Domalewski, Mr. Kruttschnitt served as senior litigation counsel to the CNA Insurance Company, where he litigated medical-malpractice and nursing-home matters as well as license disputes on behalf of healthcare providers. During his tenure there, Mr. Kruttschnitt received the prestigious CNA Chairman’s Award in recognition of his service as national lead counsel and chair of CNA’s aging-services practice group. In that role, he handled several matters in other jurisdictions as pro hac vice counsel.

During his last four decades of practice, Mr. Kruttschnitt has been a frequent lecturer both in New Jersey and nationally on various topics related to medical malpractice, professional liability, nursing-home litigation and trial advocacy. Most recently, he lectured at the Institute for Continuing Legal Education on the use of courtroom technology in the trial of a medical-malpractice case.

Mr. Kruttschnitt sits on the board of directors of the New Jersey Defense Association, where he co-chairs its professional-liability committee. For the past several years, he has been the New Jersey Defense delegate to the New Jersey Supreme Court Civil Practice Committee. He has also published several peer-reviewed articles in the New Jersey Defense Journal, in which he explored various issues related to medical malpractice.

Mr. Kruttschnitt is admitted to practice in New Jersey, Colorado, the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, and the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit.

Significant appeals include: Jacober v. St. Peter’s Med. Cntr., 128 NJ 475 (1992); Velazquez v. Portadin, 163 NJ 677 (2000); Lamb v. Barbour, 188 NJ Super 6 (App. Div. 1982); Jugan v. Pollen, 253 NJ Super 123 (App. Div. 1992); Nerney v. Cohen, 229 NJ Super 37 (App. Div. 1998).

Mr. Kruttschnitt is admitted to practice in New Jersey, Colorado, U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey and the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit.

Publications

• “Keyworth v Care One: Another Brick in the Wall, New Jersey Defense Journal, winter 2025

• “Labega v Joshi: A Return to Normalcy”, New Jersey Defense Journal, summer 2022

• “Alice Through the Looking Glassman v Friedel”, New Jersey Defense Journal, winter 2022

• “The PREP Act of 2005 and the Growing Wave of COVID-19 Litigation”, New Jersey Defense Journal, summer 2021

• “Flattening the Curve on the Coming Wave of COVID-19 Litigation”, New Jersey Defense Journal, fall 2020

• “Trella v. Bradish: Brugaletta Version 2.0”, New Jersey Defense Journal, spring 2020

• “Brugaletta v. Garcia: The Patient Safety Act Privilege Defined”, New Jersey Defense Journal, fall 2019

• “N.J.R.E. 703: Roadblock to Bootstrapping”, New Jersey Defense Journal, vol. 25:1

• “Offer of Judgment; A Sword or a Shield”, New Jersey Defense Journal, vol. 25:3

• “Buck v. Henry: And A Case Against the Affidavit of Merit Statute”, New Jersey Defense Journal, vol. 26:3

• “N.J.S.A. 39:6A-4.5: The Statute That Really Doesn’t Say What It Says”, New Jersey Defense, vol. 26:4

• “What is a Preexisting Condition?: Do We Really Understand Scafidi?”; New Jersey Defense Journal, vol. 27:2

• “The Patient Safety Act – post-Applegrad: Privilege Has It’s Price”, New Jersey Defense Journal, vol. 29:4