Christopher M. Placitella

Education

Syracuse College of Law, J.D.
(cum laude; Law Review and Legal Honor Society)

Fordham University, B.S.
(summa cum laude & 1st in his class for Accounting)

Litigation Leadership Positions

Asbestos Advisory Committee to New Jersey Superior Court;

Liaison Counsel , National Talc Litigation

Member of Steering Committee, Multi-District Trans Vaginal Mesh Litigation;

Liaison Counsel New Jersey Trans Vaginal Mesh Litigation;

Member of Steering Committee, Multi-District Asbestos Litigation;

Special Counsel to all State Court Litigants, National Diet Drug Litigation;

Class Counsel, Johns Manville Class Action Litigation;

Class Counsel, New Jersey Diet Drug Litigation;

Member of Steering Committee, National 23 Multi-District TMJ litigation;

Member of Steering Committee, National Rezulin Litigation;

Lead Counsel, New Jersey Propulsid Litigation;

Speaking Engagements

Mr. Placitella is a frequent speaker on a variety of topics including class action, personal injury, products liability, legal ethics and insurance litigation.

Chair for Mass Tort Litigation Update for the NJ Institute of Continuing Legal Education 2007 through Present

Chair for Annual Asbestos Litigation Conference for the NJ Institute of Continuing Legal Education 2007 through Present

Co-Chair for Annual Review and Update of the State of Mass Tort Litigation, New Jersey Association for Justice

New Jersey Attorney General’s Advocacy Institute, Deposing Corporate Representatives to Help Satisfy the Reptilian Brain

Pound’s 2020 Forum for State Appellate Court Judges

Deposition College, New Jersey Association for Justice

ATLA Meadowlands Seminar, Federal Court – Trial Advocacy

ATLA Meadowlands Seminar, Trial Evidence

ATLA Meadowlands Seminar, Mass Torts Roundtable

ATLA/NJAJ Educational Foundation Seminar, Mass Torts and Personal Injury

NJ ICLE seminar – Mass Torts: A New Decade for New Classes

NJ ICLE seminar – Mastering Medicare Set Aside Trust

NJ ICLE seminar – The Evolving World of Handling Mass Tort Claims

Harris Martin’s New Jersey Asbestos Litigation Conference: Mass Torts Made Perfect

HP Litigation Asbestos Seminar – Outline for Punitive Damages Presentation

Philadelphia Bar Association: Mass Torts Seminar

PALS – Las Vegas, Asbestos Litigation Seminar

AAJ seminar – Litigating Toxic Tort (NJ)

AAJ Seminar in NYC, Litigating Toxic Tort

AAJ Asbestos Litigation Group – The Case Against VIOXX

2020 Judicial College – Tackling Hybrid Jury and Non-Jury Trial and Virtual Court Proceedings

Attorney Awards

Christopher M. Placitella, shareholder at Cohen Placitella Roth PC, was recently selected by his peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America© 2018 in the fields of Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions – Plaintiffs and Personal Injury Litigation – Plaintiffs.

Trial Masters has the pleasure of announcing that Christopher Placitella of Cohen, Placitella & Roth, P.C. has been inducted as a charter member. Trial Masters is one of the most objective and exclusive accreditations a trial lawyer in the United States can receive. Membership is strictly limited to attorneys who have tried to verdict 35 or more trials in their career.

Named as a member of ‘The Roundtable: America’s 100 Most Influential Trial Lawyers’

From 2005 to Present, included in the list of New Jersey Super Lawyers by Thomson Reuters, based on peer review ratings

2001-Present, included in the list of The Best Lawyers in America® in the field(s) of Personal Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions – Plaintiffs, and Personal Injury Litigation – Plaintiffs (Mass Tort, Occupational Disease, Toxic Tort), based on peer review ratings.

National Trial Lawyers Association- Clarence Darrow Award

National Association of Distinguished Counsel – Top 1 Percent

Elected by Peers as a member of Trial Masters

Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review AV®-rated lawyer, and included in The Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers™ in the United States, published by LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell®

Included in the list of The National Law Journal’s ‘Top New Jersey Mass Tort Lawyers’

Awarded with the ‘Gold Medal for Distinguished Service’ Award; the highest award that can be bestowed on a New Jersey trial attorney by his peers, for his dedication in fighting for the rights of victims of environmental pollution by The New Jersey Association for Justice

Received the “Pioneer Award” by Consumers for Civil Justice (New Jersey’s largest consumer advocacy organization) for fighting for the rights of New Jersey consumers and tort victims

Presented the “Meritorious Service Award” by the New Jersey White Lung Association for his fight for the rights of asbestos victims

Nominated as National ‘Trial Lawyer of the Year’ for his work in representing lead-poisoned children

Bar Admissions

New Jersey

New York

United States District Court, District of New Jersey

United States District Court, Southern District of New York

United States Supreme Court

Professional Memberships

The Board of Governors of the American Association for Justice

Leaders Forum American Association for Justice

New Jersey Trial Lawyers (now NJAJ), Former President (2001-2002)

National Trial Lawyers Association-Executive Committee

NJAJ PAC, Former Chair

Trial Lawyers of New Jersey (TANJ)

Community Service

Mr. Placitella volunteers his time to numerous consumer advocacy groups to fight for the rights of people who suffered because of corporate misconduct.

Mr. Placitella is also a founder of the Veterans Career Transition Program, and a Trustee of the Holidays for the Homeless and Underprivileged, Inc. organization.

He is a founding Board Member of the New Jersey Public Interest Law Center 9/11 Victims Compensation Fund- helped organize national pro bono effort to provide free legal assistance for families who lost loved ones in the 9/11 tragedy

Landmark Cases

Barden v. Johnson & Johnson (2020)– $750,000,000 Co-lead counsel in the largest punitive damage verdict in New Jersey History;

McNeal v Johnson & Johnson (2019)- $16,000,000 compensatory verdict concerning mesothelioma caused by exposure to baby powder;

Williams v. BASF et al (2020) – $72,000,000 national class action settlement for fraudulent concealment of evidence concerning exposure to asbestos containing talc;

NJ Tobacco Litigation-Co-lead counsel representing the State of New Jersey against the tobacco industry and helped achieve the largest settlement in the history of New Jersey, totaling $7.6 billion dollars;

Mr. Placitella assisted in negotiating what is believed to be the largest settlement in the nation involving a single company in a product liability case involving the diet drugs Pondimin® and Redux® – a $3.75 billion-dollar settlement;

Trial counsel in the largest consolidated asbestos trial in New York City history;

Served as one of the lead trial counsel in the largest environmental tort settlement on behalf of individuals in New Jersey history, totaling $38.5 million dollars;

Whalen v. Ford et al (2020)- Argued case before NJ Supreme Court which changed the law holding equipment companies responsible for asbestos related injuries.

In re Acctutane (2019) Argued case before NJ Supreme Court setting the standards for expert testimony in toxic injury cases

Sun Chemical (2020) Argued case before NJ Supreme Court allowing injured consumers to bring cases under the Product Liability Act & the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act

Article & Publications

New Jersey Mass Tort & Class Action Treatise- Editor In Chief(This nationally recognized Treatise published by the Bar Association is the product of the work of more than 50 of the most accomplished and distinguished judges and lawyers in the country).

Mr. Placitella’s career has been commemorated a number of times in written works, including:

1. Poison Pills, The Untold Story of the Vioxx Drug Scandal, Tom Nesi;
2. Dispensing with the Truth: The Victims, the Drug Companies, and the Dramatic Story Behind the Battle over Fen-Phen, Alicia Mundy;
3. Civil Warriors, the Story of the Tobacco Litigation, Dan Zeigart;

No Contest, Corporate Lawyers & the Perversion of Justice in America, Ralph Nader.

Christopher M. Placitella, Jared M. Placitella, Dennis M. Geier, A 30,000 Foot Look at Cosmetic Talc Cases, TRIAL MAGAZINE, October , 2020

Christopher M. Placitella, Ron Motley on How to Approach a Case, TRIAL MAGAZINE

Christopher M. Placitella and Justin Placitella, A Closer Look at Asbestos Cases, TRIAL MAGAZINE,

Christopher M. Placitella, Why Are Mesothelioma Cases in New Jersey Still on the Rise, NEW JERSEY LAWYER, Aug. 2011, at 16.Placitella & Klein, The Civil Justice System Bridges the Great Divide in Consumer Protection, 43 Duq. L. Rev. 219

Placitella & Darnell, Beshada v. Johns Manville Products Corp.: Evolution or Revolution in Strict Products Liability, 51 Fordham L. Rev. 801

Christopher M. Placitella, 9-11: The Agony and the Aftermath, THE JOURNAL, Sept. 2011.

Christopher M. Placitella, Esq. New Jersey Mass Torts & Class Action Treatise, NJICLE, (2015).