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Christopher M. Placitella is a shareholder in the law firm and an accomplished trial lawyer with a nationwide reputation as one of the country’s leading legal authorities on mass tort, class actions, and cases about asbestos-related diseases. He represents individuals injured by defective products and drugs, toxic substances, and environmental contamination.
Mr. Placitella has developed an award-winning reputation for his commitment to those who have been harmed due to the wrongful conduct of others. His professional integrity and personal commitment to his clients and his community have earned him local, regional and national recognition for his work and service. He is continuously recognized by his peers for his contribution to mass tort litigation.
As a member of the plaintiffs’ bar, Mr. Placitella is known for helping to establish a national asbestos litigation group dedicated to successfully and effectively representing individuals suffering from asbestos-related diseases and their families.
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
Mr. Placitella is a frequent speaker on a variety of topics including class action, personal injury, products liability, legal ethics and insurance litigation.
Rutgers Institute for Professional Education – “How to Try a Personal Injury Case”, November 2015
Co-Chair for Mass Tort Litigation Update 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, November 2011
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
PBI Mass Torts Seminar
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
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
The Board of Governors of the American Association for Justice
Leaders Forum American Association for Justice
Consumers for Civil Justice, Counsel
New Jersey Trial Lawyers (now NJAJ), Former President (2001-2002)
NJAJ PAC, Former Chair
Mr. Placitella volunteers his time to numerous consumer advocacy groups to fight for the rights of people who suffered because of corporate misconduct, including serving as Counsel for Consumers for Civil Justice. Mr. Placitella is also a founder of the Veterans Transition Initiative, and a Trustee of the Holidays for the Homeless and Underprivileged, Inc. organization.
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).
Christopher M. Placitella is the author of a bi-weekly newsletter, ‘The Mass Tort Update’, and has published numerous articles on trial practice, mass tort class action, mesothelioma and asbestos litigation. Mr. Placitella’s career has been commemorated a number of times in written works, including: Poison Pills, The Untold Story of the Vioxx Drug Scandal, Tom Nesi; Dispensing with the Truth: The Victims, the Drug Companies, and the Dramatic Story Behind the Battle over Fen-Phen, Alicia Mundy; 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, Ron Motley on How to Approach a Case, TRIAL MAGAZINE, July 2014.
Christopher M. Placitella and Justin Placitella, A Closer Look at Asbestos Cases, TRIAL MAGAZINE, Nov. 2011 at 27.
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 (2005).
Placitella & Darnell, Beshada v. Johns Manville Products Corp.: Evolution or Revolution in Strict Products Liability, 51 Fordham L. Rev. 801 (1983).
Christopher M. Placitella, 9-11: The Agony and the Aftermath, THE JOURNAL, Sept. 2011.
Christopher M. Placitella, Esq. 2015 New Jersey Mass Torts & Class Action Treatise, NJICLE, (2015).
Asbestos Advisory Committee to New Jersey Superior Court;
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;
Served as key member of the legal team 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, and also obtained the largest punitive damage verdict against an asbestos company in New Jersey’s 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;
As part of the 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
