Christopher M. Placitella
Top rated Class Action & Mass Torts attorney in Red Bank, New Jersey
Cohen, Placitella & Roth
Practice Areas: Class Action & Mass Torts, Administrative Law, Personal Injury; view more
Licensed in New Jersey since: 1981
Education: Syracuse University College of Law
Selected to Super Lawyers: 2005 - 2025 No aspect of this advertisement has been approved by the Supreme Court of New Jersey. Please visit the Super Lawyers Selection Process for a detailed description of the Super Lawyers selection methodology.
Details
Christopher M. Placitella is a shareholder of Cohen, Placitella & Roth, P.C., located in Red Bank, New Jersey. Providing representation to clients throughout the surrounding regions, he focuses his practice on high-profile personal injury cases, with an emphasis on asbestos-related diseases and defective products. Mr. Placitella has mass tort and class action trial experience, and he has obtained several multimillion-dollar settlements and jury awards.
Mr. Placitella received a Bachelor of Science summa cum laude from Fordham University in 1978. He then went on to attend the Syracuse University College of Law and was awarded his Juris Doctor cum laude in 1981. During law school, he was a member of the Law Review and the Justinian Honorary Society. Licensed to practice in both New Jersey and New York, he is also admitted before the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey and the Supreme Court of the United States.
Throughout his career, Mr. Placitella has earned the high esteem of his fellow attorneys. He has received an AV Preeminent* peer-review rating through Martindale-Hubbell, a 10/10 rating on Avvo, and he is named among The Best Lawyers in America. He has won the Meritorious Service Award by The White Lung Association of New Jersey, the Clarence Darrow Award by The National Trial Lawyers association, and the Pioneer Award by the Consumers For Civil Justice organization.
Furthermore, Mr. Placitella is listed in the National Law Journal’s Top New Jersey Mass Tort Lawyers and the National Association of Distinguished Counsel’s Top 1 Percent. He is also a member of The Roundtable: America’s 100 Most Influential Trial Lawyers.
Serving on the board of governors of the American Association for Justice, Mr. Placitella is a past president and current board member of the New Jersey Association for Justice. He is also a member of the board of directors of the New Jersey Appleseed Public Interest Law Center, and founder of the Veterans Transition Initiative, Inc., a nonprofit that provides legal assistance and support to honorably discharged veterans. Moreover, he is a frequent guest speaker and author on various legal topics related to his practice areas.
*AV®, AV Preeminent®, Martindale-Hubbell Distinguished and Martindale-Hubbell Notable are certification marks used under license in accordance with the Martindale-Hubbell certification procedures, standards and policies. Martindale-Hubbell® is the facilitator of a peer-review rating process. Ratings reflect the anonymous opinions of members of the bar and the judiciary. Martindale-Hubbell® Peer Review Ratings™ fall into two categories – legal ability and general ethical standards.
Practice areas
Class Action/Mass Torts: Plaintiff, Administrative Law, Personal Injury - General: Plaintiff, Personal Injury - Medical Malpractice: Plaintiff, Personal Injury - Products: PlaintiffFocus areas
Asbestos, Class Actions, Construction Accident, Medical Malpractice, Motor Vehicle Accidents, Motor Vehicle Defects, Personal Injury - Plaintiff, Trucking Accidents
- 60% Class Action/Mass Torts: Plaintiff
- 10% Administrative Law
- 10% Personal Injury - General: Plaintiff
- 10% Personal Injury - Medical Malpractice: Plaintiff
- 10% Personal Injury - Products: Plaintiff
First Admitted: 1981, New Jersey
Professional Webpage: http://cprlaw.com/attorneys/christopher-m-placitella
- Class Counsel, New Jersey Diet Drug Litigation
- Trial Lawyers of New Jersey (TANJ) – Board of Governors
- Member of Steering Committee, National 23 Multi-District TMJ litigation
- Member of Steering Committee, National Rezulin Litigation
- Lead Counsel, New Jersey Propulsid Litigation
- Author, Poison Pills
- The Untold Story of the Vioxx Drug Scandal
- Tom Nesi
- Dispensing with the Truth
- 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, 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
- Asbestos Advisory Committee to New Jersey Superior Court
- Member, Steering Committee, Multi-District Trans Vaginal Mesh Litigation
- Liaison Counsel New Jersey Trans Vaginal Mesh Litigation
- Member, Steering Committee, Multi-District Asbestos Litigation
- Special Counsel to all State Court Litigants, National Diet Drug Litigation
- Class Counsel, Johns Manville Class Action Litigation
- Barden v. Johnson & Johnson – $750,000,000 Co-lead counsel in the largest punitive damage verdict in New Jersey History
- Whalen v. Ford et al – Argued case before NJ Supreme Court which changed the law holding equipment companies responsible for asbestos related injuries
- Williams v. BASF et al – $72,000,000 national class action settlement for fraudulent concealment of evidence concerning exposure to asbestos containing talc
- McNeal v Johnson & Johnson – $16,000,000 compensatory verdict concerning mesothelioma caused by exposure to baby powder
- Holidays for the Homeless and Underprivileged, Inc. -Trustee
- 9/11 Victims Compensation Fund- helped organize a national pro bono effort to provide free legal assistance for families who lost loved ones in the 9/11 tragedy
- New Jersey Public Interest Law Center, Founding Board Member
- Consumers for Civil Justice, Counsel
- Veterans Transition Initiative, Founder
- The Best Lawyers in America©, 2015
- Nominated as National ‘Trial Lawyer of the Year’
- Presented the “Meritorious Service Award” by the New Jersey White Lung Association
- Received “Pioneer Award” by Consumers for Civil Justice (New Jersey’s largest consumer advocacy organization)
- ‘Gold Medal for Distinguished Service’ Award
- National Law Journal’s ‘Top New Jersey Mass Tort Lawyers’
- 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®
- National Association of Distinguished Counsel, Top 1 Percent
- National Trial Lawyers Association, Clarence Darrow Award
- The Best Lawyers in America, 2001-Present
- New Jersey Super Lawyers, 2005-Present, Thomson Reuters
- Named as a member of ‘The Roundtable: America’s 100 Most Influential Trial Lawyers’
- Fordham University, B.S., summa cum laude, 1978
- New Jersey Mass Tort & Class Action Treatise- Editor In Chief
- Author, bi-weekly newsletter, ‘The Mass Tort Update'
- The Drug Companies
- The Dramatic Story Behind the Battle over Fen-Phen
- Alicia Mundy
- Civil Warriors
- The Story of the Tobacco Litigation
- Dan Zeigart
- Corporate Lawyers & the Perversion of Justice in America
- New Jersey Mass Tort & Class Action Treatise, Editor In Chief
- Author, ‘The Mass Tort Update’
- Ron Motley on How to Approach a Case, TriaL Magazine, July 2014
- A Closer Look at Asbestos Cases, Trial Magazine, Nov. 2011 at 27
- Why Are Mesothelioma Cases in New Jersey Still on the Rise, New Jersey Lawyers, Aug. 2011, at 16
- The Civil Justice System Bridges the Great Divide in Consumer Protection, 43 Duq. L. Rev. 219, 2005
- Beshada v. Johns Manville Products Corp.: Evolution or Revolution in Strict Products Liability, 51 Fordham L. Rev. 801, 1983
- 9-11: The Agony and the Aftermath, The Journal, Sept. 2011
- New Jersey Mass Torts & Class Action Treatise, NJICLE, 2015
- 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-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
- Rutgers Institute for Professional Education – “How to Try a Personal Injury Case”, November 2015
Selections
- Super Lawyers: 2005 - 2025
Top Lists
Top 100: New Jersey Super Lawyers: 2007Certificates and credentials
Certified by the Supreme Court of New Jersey as a Civil Trial Attorney
