Attorneys

Gail L. Ritzert focuses her practice on insurance coverage and insurance defense matters, concentrating in both the coverage and defense of catastrophic injury cases arising from construction accidents, products and premises defects, and the defense of municipalities. She has served as the national coordinating counsel for major construction and electrical contractors, real estate developers, property managers and national franchisors.

A highly experienced trial attorney, Gail has tried numerous cases to successful conclusions in all courts in the New York metropolitan area. Gail has also served as the regional seminar coordinator for one of the largest domestic insurers. Gail is a frequent lecturer and has spoken extensively for the Defense Research Institute, the Defense Association of New York, the National Business Institute, the New York State Bar Association and the Nassau County Bar Association on topics including construction law and trial strategies, catastrophic injuries, litigation of insurance coverage disputes, medical malpractice, supplemental underinsurance and uninsured motorist claims and ethics. She is a past president of the Defense Association of New York and served as the New York State representative to the Defense Research Institute.

Gail graduated cum laude from Pfeiffer College in 1982, and received a Master's Degree in Education from Frostburg State University in 1986 and her Juris Doctor from St. John's University School of Law in 1989. She is admitted to practice in New York, Connecticut and the District of Columbia, and before the United States District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York.

Publications

• When Manufacturers and Deployers of Self-service Kiosks Should be Concerned about Product Liability, February 20, 2008
• A Key Litigation Ally--Your Own Expertise, New York Law Journal, February 1, 2005
• Elder Care Editorial, Long Island Business News, August 30, 2004
• Construction Client The Best Expert, Construction News
• Municipal and School Liability - Assumption of Risk
  Defense Association of New York
• The Multi-disciplinary Practice
  DRI - For the Defense

Presentations

• Trial Techniques for Effective Litigation (June 2008)
• Depositions A to Z (January 2008)
• Defending Product Liability Actions
  (Product Liability Conference, September 2007)

• Defending Traumatic Brain Injury Claims (June 2007)
• The Definitive Guide to Settling Uninsured and Underinsured Motorist Claims in New York
  (NBI, Inc., April 2006, Melville, New York)
• Recent Developments in Spoliation of Evidence
  (Nassau Suffolk Claims Managers, May 2006)
• Litigation and Ethics
  (NBI, 2005 and 2006)
• Trial Preparations and Strategy
  (NBI 2004, 2005, 2006)

• Ethics in the Courtroom
  (DRI)

• Achieving Favorable Outcomes to Automobile Injury Insurance Claims in New York
  (NBI, Inc., December 2005, Melville, New York)
• SUM/UIM Claims in New York
  (NBI, Inc., September 2005, Brooklyn, New York)
• Elder Law
• Trying the Soft Tissue Injury Case in New York
• Uninsured and Underinsured Motorist Law in New York
• Fundamentals of Property Insurance Law
• Advance Issues in New York Medical Practice
• Fundamentals of Construction Law in New York