Overview
Practice Areas
Intellectual Property • Intellectual Property Enforcement & Litigation • Litigation • Real Estate • Trusts & Estates •
Industry Experience
Legal & Professional Malpractice Defense • Private Client Services •
With nearly 30 years of experience in several areas of commercial litigation, Ronald Israel has focused on representing clients in complex matters. He has represented the State of New Jersey in numerous matters, as well as three governors, members of the New Jersey legislature, municipalities, and other politicians and local boards. Ron has litigated serious constitutional issues in both Federal and State courts. Most recently, Ron has successfully argued the constitutionality of New Jersey’s Municipal Stabilization and Recovery Act. In the end, though, Ron knows that his job is to zealously advocate for his clients in the most cost-effective manner possible looking for business solutions, not just litigation.
Ron’s experience also includes the successful litigation of a broad range of complex corporate commercial matters, including partnership disputes; professional malpractice issues; minority oppression and shareholder derivative actions; trademark and copyright infringement claims; and restrictive covenant and raiding cases. He has represented all types of clients from multi-billion-dollar corporations in bet-the-company lawsuits to family members engaged in emotional estate litigation. With regard to professional malpractice cases, he has represented several multi-national and New York-based law firms as well as numerous law firms (large and small) in New Jersey. He has also litigated bootleg and counterfeit goods cases and supervised the seizure of infringing merchandise. In addition, his experience includes many entertainment-related matters involving well-known artists and entertainers.
As the General Counsel of CSG Law for more than a decade and chair of the firm’s Ethics and Conflicts Committee, Ron is able to advise lawyers and law firms as to their ethical obligations and represents them in legal malpractice cases. He also advises companies in regard to compliance and ethics programs.
Ron also leads the firm’s Legal & Professional Malpractice Defense Team, which defends attorneys, law firms, their insurers, and other professionals in a variety of matters including allegations of malpractice, breach of fiduciary duty, fraud, aiding and abetting, and other tortious conduct before federal and state courts as well as disciplinary review boards.
In 2010, Ron convinced the Third Circuit Court of Appeals to disagree with 15 years of D.C. Circuit law interpreting the scope of immunity for international organizations engaged in commercial transactions, thereby creating new international law in the Third Circuit. OSS Nokalva, Inc. v. European Space Agency, 617 F.3d 756 (3d Cir. 2010). Earlier in 2019, the U.S. Supreme adopted this law and made it applicable to the entire country.
He earned his B.A., with high honors, from Rutgers University and received his J.D. from Columbia School of Law.
*Results may vary depending on your particular facts and legal circumstances.
Honors
- Included in The Best Lawyers in America®, Ethics and Professional Responsibility Law; Professional Malpractice Law – Defendants (2024-2026)
- Selected to the New Jersey Super Lawyers list, Business Litigation; Intellectual Property Litigation; Estate & Trust Litigation; Professional Liability: Defense (2012-2026)
- Selected to the New Jersey Super Lawyers – Rising Stars list, Business Litigation; Intellectual Property Litigation; Estate & Trust Litigation; Professional Liability: Defense (2009 and 2011)
- Included in New Jersey Law Journal, 40 Under 40 (2010)
- Included in NJBIZ, Forty Under 40 (2009)
Award Methodology
*No aspect of this advertisement has been approved by the Supreme Court of New Jersey.
Involvement
- American Bar Association
- Association of the Federal Bar of New Jersey
- Essex County Bar Association
- Federal Bar Association
- Litigation Counsel of America, Fellow
- New Jersey State Bar Association
Education
- Columbia Law School (J.D., 1996)
- Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey (B.A., with high honors, 1993)
Admissions
- New Jersey
- New York
- U.S. Court of Appeals, Second Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals, Third Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals, Federal Circuit
- U.S. District Court, District of New Jersey
- U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York
- U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York
- U.S. Supreme Court
Overview
Ron’s representations include:
- A national law firm in a lawsuit over the ownership of real property
- Several law firms and solo practitioners, including international, national and regional firms, in legal malpractice and related actions arising out of a broad spectrum of litigation and transactional matters
- A law firm involved in a dispute over a separation agreement
- A board member of a commercial real estate development company in related litigation in federal court and in two separate state courts
- An Australian wine producer in a trademark dispute
- A consulting and marketing company in a multimillion-dollar lawsuit for wrongful termination of a representative agreement
- A national religious organization in an unfair competition lawsuit
- A general partner in litigation with several limited partners over governance issues
- A trust seeking to reform a life insurance policy beneficiary designation
- Several surviving spouses engaged in multi-million dollar estate disputes
- The State of New Jersey
- A nationally syndicated radio personality with regard to intellectual property, employment and right of publicity claims
- A famous rock band in a trademark infringement dispute
- An individual in a seven-year litigation with regard to criminal and civil complaints for securities fraud
- Several music groups and merchandising companies in obtaining numerous ex parte nationwide injunctions and seizure orders with regard to counterfeit merchandise
Ron also participated in the following matters:
- The settlement of a class-action lawsuit against a national sweepstakes company, as well as an action brought by all 50 state attorneys general
- The representation of a Fortune 500 company in a Department of Justice investigation of potential violations of antitrust laws concerning the legitimacy of certain distributorship agreements
- A joint investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission, Internal Revenue Service, Department of Justice, the New York district attorney and a congressional subcommittee
- The representation of a billion-dollar hedge fund manager who was involved in half of a dozen related lawsuits across the country
*Results may vary depending on your particular facts and legal circumstances.