David Osterman

Practice Areas

Product Liability

Class Action Litigation

Toxic Tort

Asbestos

Career

Dave Osterman is a trial lawyer who concentrates his practice in handling complex civil actions and class action litigation. He is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and served as past chair for the New Jersey State Committee. In his 30+ year career he has defended a wide range of product liability and catastrophic injury cases, including cases involving consumer, pharmaceutical and industrial products, toxic torts, and complex commercial disputes.

Dave is certified as a civil trial attorney by the New Jersey Supreme Court and has tried more than 50 cases to verdict in five states (New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Arizona) and the District of Columbia. He also has served as lead counsel in the successful defense of several state and national class actions involving claims of consumer fraud, breach of warranty, medical monitoring, and product liability.

Dave’s practice involves the representation of manufacturers, retailers, and distributors of a wide variety of products including pharmaceutical and medical device products, consumer products, food products, heavy industrial machinery, airplanes, outdoor power equipment, gas grills, glass products, and flammable fabrics. He has extensive toxic tort experience, including the successful representation of manufacturers and distributors against claims of personal injury or property damage as a result of exposure to asbestos, silica, paint products, graphite carbon, diacetyl, industrial solvents, and MTBE.

Dave’s experience includes the largest consolidated asbestos trial in New Jersey history. Among other successes, he has successfully defended class-action litigation brought under state consumer protection statutes, including the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act and handled a variety of commercial disputes including partnership dissolution disputes, breach of non-compete agreements, and patent, trademark, and copyright litigation.

Contact Dave at [email protected]

Professional Memberships

American College of Coverage Counsel (ACCC) – Fellow

American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA)

DRI - Defense Research Institute, Products Liability Subcommittee

DRI – Defense Research Institute, Class Actions Special Litigation Group

International Association of Defense Counsel

Product Liability Advisory Council

Propane Gas Defense Association

Publications

“Abuses of CPSC Accident Data,” Co-Author, DRI For The Defense, April 2020

“E-discovery and the Defense of a Product,” Co-Author, DRI The Voice, July 2019

“Understanding the Attorney-Client Privilege: A Practical Overview and Associated Ethical Rules,” Preparing for and Trying the Civil Lawsuit, 2d Ed., 2016 Rev., New York State Bar Association

Education

Awards