“Lawyers for when bad things happen to good people”
CHRISTIAN C. LoPIANO
Attorney at Law
clopiano@lopianolaw.com
Christian C. LoPiano, Esq. has been practicing law representing people who have suffered harm and losses due to the negligence of others since 1991. Although the office has been based predominantly in Hudson County, he has consistently obtained substantial verdicts and settlements for his clients totaling millions of dollars throughout New Jersey, including Hudson, Bergen, Essex, Morris, Passaic, Union, Middlesex, Somerset, Hunterdon, Monmouth, and Ocean counties.
Christian is a graduate of Touro Law School in Long Island and Fordham University. He is admitted to practice law in New Jersey and the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey. Christian is a current member of the New Jersey State Bar Association and its Medical Malpractice Committee, the Hudson County Bar Association, the Morris County Bar Association, and the New Jersey Association for Justice.
Christian is proud to practice in the shadow of his late father, Rocco Wm. LoPiano, Esq. whose stature and reputation as a civil trial attorney is legendary. Rocco passed on October 20, 1990 during Christian’s last year at Touro Law School. Although Christian never had the opportunity to practice law alongside his father, Rocco’s spirit and passion to fight to obtain fair and just compensation when bad things happen to good people has always been with him. On October 20, 1999, nine years to the day of his father’s passing, Christian obtained his first jury verdict of $350,000 in Union County before Judge Toy for a woman injured in a premises liability case against a defense attorney who tried cases against Christian’s father.
In 2010, Christian obtained a $5,000,000.00 medical malpractice jury verdict in Hudson County against several doctors at Bayonne Medical Center for causing the death of a 46 year-old wife and mother as a result of undergoing an elective, and otherwise routine, lung biopsy that was contraindicated based upon her underlying condition. The verdict was one of the highest in New Jersey in 2010 and the case was featured in the New Jersey Law Journal and Jury Verdict Review, as well as on the front page of the Jersey Journal which followed the trial and quoted Christian’s opening statement to the jury. Christian told the jury that sometimes bad things happen to good people, but sometimes bad things just shouldn’t happen as what happened in this case.
In 2015 Christian was named the Civil Trial Lawyer of the Year by the Hudson County Bar Association, in part, for two exceptionally large verdicts he obtained in “soft-tissue” personal injury motor vehicle cases in Somerset and Bergen Counties which are known to be conservative defense-oriented jurisdictions (i.e. low verdicts in personal injury cases). Christian obtained verdicts of $500,000 in each case which involved spinal injuries without surgery and the defense offered $7,500 in each case.
Christian specializes in complex civil litigation cases, including professional malpractice, personal injury, and wrongful death, as well as handling workers’ compensation, social security, and municipal court matters. Christian has established a strong reputation as an aggressive, hard-nosed, creative courtroom lawyer who welcomes challenges and opportunities to fight for the rights of his clients. Christian is a well-known and respected member of the bar throughout New Jersey and has freely given his time to speak at seminars to help other lawyers obtain substantial civil justice for their clients.
Drew M. Pratko-Rucando
Attorney at Law
drucando@lopianolaw.com
Drew M. Pratko-Rucando, Esq. is an Associate Attorney at the firm. Drew graduated from Seton Hall University School of Law in 2011 after obtaining her B.A. from Saint Peter’s University where she majored in Political Science with a minor in Business Law. She began her career in the legal field in high school when she began working as a litigation assistant for a general civil solo practitioner where she later was promoted to Associate Attorney. She worked there for almost 12 years and gained in-depth knowledge and experience in numerous areas of the law. Drew is currently admitted to practice law in both New Jersey and New York as well as in Federal Court, in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey. She is a member of the Hudson County Bar Association.
Caitlin Rizzo
Attorney at Law
crizzo@lopianolaw.com
Caitlin Rizzo, Esq. is an Associate Attorney at the firm. Caitlin graduated from The Pennsylvania State University Dickinson School of Law in 2012, where she was President of the Environmental Law Society, Vice President of the Sports Legal Society, and Secretary of the Alternative Dispute Resolution Society. Caitlin obtained her B.A. from American University where she majored in Interdisciplinary Studies (Communications, Legal Institutions, Economics, Government), with a minor in Justice. She began her career in the legal field as a litigation assistant at 17 years old and since then has worked for the Appellate Division of the U.S. Department of Justice and the Office of Counsel for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Caitlin is currently admitted to practice law in the State of New Jersey and is a member of the Hudson County Bar Association.
Susan Robertson
Legal Assistant
srobertson@lopianolaw.com
A native of the United Kingdom, Susie was educated at Queen Mary College, University of London and Nottingham Law School and was admitted as a Solicitor of the Supreme Court in 1996. She worked in London and Paris in the Banking and Financial Services group at Frere Cholmeley Bischoff and at Ashurts in the Private Equity and Corporate Finance department, where she advised banks, private equity houses, property trusts and corporations. After 20 years in the US, she joined the LoPiano Law Firm providing research assistance and paralegal support to the busy team.
Languages: English, French, German.