Charles M. Lizza

Charlie Lizza is vice chair of the Litigation Department and co-chair of the Life Sciences Practice Group. He concentrates his practice in complex commercial, patent and product liability cases. He currently serves as New Jersey litigation counsel in more than a dozen patent cases for several major pharmaceutical companies.

Charlie has represented a major tobacco manufacturer in all of its products liability litigation in New Jersey, including class action litigation, and has handled a wide range of commercial litigation cases in the U.S. Federal Courts. He is admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third and Ninth Circuits. In 1992, Charlie was appointed by Chief Judge Charles L. Brieant to serve as a mediator in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York's mediation program. He has mediated approximately ten cases in that program. Charlie currently serves as Chairman of the New Jersey Supreme Court's Committee on the Unauthorized Practice of Law and as a member of the New Jersey Supreme Court's Professional Responsibility Rules Committee. He is a member of the Local Patent Rules Committee for the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.

In the area of public service, Charlie has served as Chairman of the Board of Directors of Covenant House New York and as Chairman of the Board of Trustees for St. Peter's Prep in Jersey City. He currently serves on the Board of Directors for Covenant House New York and as counsel to the Heart Gallery of New Jersey. In 2007, he was honored with the Good Scout Award from the Patriots' Path Council, where he currently serves as a member of its Executive Board. He is also a member of the Board of Trustees of the Briant Park Olmstead Conservancy.

In 2011, Charlie was named one of "America's Leading Lawyers in Intellectual Property Law" by Chambers USA.

Prior to joining Saul Ewing, Charlie was a partner for more than 15 years with the New York-based firm LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene & MacRae LLP (now, Dewey & LeBoeuf). Prior to that, he was an associate at Shearman & Sterling and a Law Clerk to Chief Judge David N. Edelstein of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.