Charles Rysavy

Accomplished attorney with extensive experience in civil litigation, including case strategy, discovery, motion practice, trials and appeals. Expert in management and resolution of complex commercial, mass tort, and class action disputes locally and nationwide. Proven track record in strategic legal counseling and persuasive writing, successfully representing clients in high-stakes cases across multiple jurisdictions. Particular passions in mentoring junior lawyers and pro bono service.

• Litigated and successfully moved for summary judgment resulting in dismissal of client defending against creditor claims of fraudulent conveyance and successor liability, seeking to hold client and codefendants responsible for more than one billion dollars in asbestos personal injury and property damage claims.
• Litigated and successfully moved for summary judgment resulting in dismissal of over 6,000 personal injury claims pending against electric utility brought by cleanup workers at World Trade Center site following 9/11.
• Served as national counsel for Canadian generic pharmaceutical manufacturing/packaging company in defending claims of alleged packaging defects in oral contraceptives, alleging “wrongful birth” and various physical, emotional and economic injuries.
• Served as national trial co-counsel for pharmaceutical manufacturer in defense of product liability claims involving drug for prevention and treatment of osteoporosis.
• Successfully served as national counsel for client in defense of personal injury and wrongful death claims for exposure to radiation emitted from military radar equipment by US and NATO military personnel. Successfully defeated plaintiffs’ motion to certify two classes.
• Helped establish and counsel joint defense group consisting of more than 80% of the US commercial nuclear power industry on claims avoidance and defense of radiation injury claims.
• Tried first single product aftermarket antitrust claim in the nation to be tried to successful verdict in twenty years, on behalf of independent provider of maintenance services for telephone equipment. Following six-and-a-half month trial, jury rendered verdict in favor of client, finding defendant liable for Sherman Act violations.

• Pro Bono Award for Exemplary Service, New Jersey State Bar Association, 2020
• Recognized for “exceptional contribution” to Kids in Need of Defense, 2018
• Listed by The Best Lawyers in America®, Newark - Product Liability Litigation - Defendants, 2025; Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions - Defendants, 2022-2025
  

• “The Economic Damages Expert: Commercial Losses” chapter, Expert Witness Answer Book, Practising Law Institute, 2022 ed.
• “The Economic Damages Expert: Property Valuation” chapter, Expert Witness Answer Book, Practising Law Institute, 2019 and 2022 eds.
• “U.S. Class Actions Involving Foreign Parties” chapter, A Practitioner’s Guide to Class Actions, Third Edition, American Bar Association, 2021.
• “Class Actions Involving Foreign Parties” chapter, A Practitioner's Guide to Class Actions. American Bar Association, First ed., 2010; Second ed., 2017.
• "Radiation Exposure from Medical Imaging Devices: The Dark Cloud in the Silver Lining," Class Action Litigation Report, BNA, Inc., August 13, 2010.
• “CT Scans and Radiation Exposure: Emerging Legal Considerations for Imaging Manufacturers,” Medtech Executive and MX Magazine Issues Update, December 2008.
• “The (Often Insurmountable) Hurdles Facing Foreign Claimants Prosecuting Class Actions in American Courts,” Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Law Journal, September 2006.
• “A Roadmap for Escaping Divesting Backlash,” Mergers & Acquisitions: The Dealmakers Journal, January 2005.
• “Trials” chapter, Handbook of Civil Practice in the Courts of New Jersey, George T. Bisel & Co., September 2004.
• “Case Management and Pretrial Matters” chapter, Handbook of Civil Practice in the Courts of New Jersey, George T. Bisel & Co., August 2004.