Carl Schaerf is a partner in the Litigation Services Department and serves as chair of Schnader’s Antitrust and Trade Regulation Practice Group, which provides antitrust litigation and consulting services to a variety of manufacturing and retail clients. His career has been focused on product liability, general liability, antitrust, Constitutional law and commercial litigation, including real estate and leasing disputes and defense of allegations of professional malpractice. He has extensive litigation experience at both the trial and the appellate levels, including several prominent verdicts and published appellate decisions. He also has litigated numerous environmental disputes in state and federal court. Mr. Schaerf also consults and lectures nationally on ERISA and non-ERISA health, life, accident and disability matters.
Mr. Schaerf has served as Northeast/Mid Atlantic regional product liability counsel for a large electrical manufacturer and distributor for approximately 20 years. He is involved at all stages of claims, from first notice, through inspections, filings, depositions and ultimate resolution. He is very familiar with catastrophic loss, whether by fire, electrocution, amputation or otherwise. He regularly has been involved in all manner of fire and flooding losses, often at the scene within minutes or hours of the occurrence. He also defends automobile, bus and truck operators in cases involving catastrophic loss.
Mr. Schaerf also serves as counsel to a large and swiftly growing retailer, advising on and litigating commercial disputes, liability questions and real estate controversies. In addition, he has represented a large municipality for many years in connection with Constitutional issues arising from the Administration of Foster Care, and, for many years also has defended governmental and religious organizations against claims of physical and sexual abuse.
News & Publications
- Product Liability and Tort Law Implications of the COVID-19 Crisis
- NY Super Lawyers Named
- U.S. Supreme Court Signals Less Scrutiny for Businesses in Two-sided Markets
- Schnader Attorneys Named to NY Super Lawyers
- Schnader Attorneys Named to The Best Lawyers in America 2019
- Carl Schaerf and Tracy Weinstein Publish “New Strategies for Winning Dismissal of a Failure to Warn Claim”
- Aviation Happenings- Spring 2018
- Carl Schaerf and Lee Schmeer Analyze Challenges for the Government Contractor’s Defense under the New Presidential Administration
- Schnader Attorneys Named to Super Lawyers 2017
- 40 Schnader Attorneys Named to The Best Lawyers in America 2018
- Many Schnader Attorneys Named to Super Lawyers 2016
- Thirty-Seven Schnader Attorneys Selected for The Best Lawyers in America 2017
- Sowing Uncertainty: Navigating Patent Disputes and Antitrust Scrutiny Post King Drug
- California Supreme Court Decision in Cipro Highlights the Lack of Predictability in Antitrust Jurisprudence and Counseling
- “Foreseeability and the Erosion of the Material Alteration Defense”
- Super Lawyers Recognizes Many Schnader Attorneys in 2014
- Supreme Court Holds That CERCLA Preemption Is Inapplicable to Statutes of Repose
- Despite Delay, Failure to Plead, and Participation in Litigation, Federal Court Enforces Arbitration Clause
- “‘Phobia’ Claims – NY’s Backdoor To ‘Medical Monitoring?”
- New York’s Highest Court Does Not Recognize Claims for Medical Monitoring – For Now: Using “Phobia” Claims as a Backdoor to “Medical Monitoring?”
- “The Mediation Caucus: Where the Rubber Meets the Road”
- Super Lawyers Recognizes Many Schnader Attorneys in 2013
- Does Mutual Pharmaceutical Co., Inc. v. Bartlett Herald the Demise of the “Failure-To-Withdraw” Theory?
- Another Court Holds Daubert Analysis Required When Critical to Class Certification
- “Heeding Presumption In NY Law? It Depends Who You Ask”
- Does New York Law Contain a Heeding Presumption? It Depends Who You Ask
- Carl Schaerf Offers Comment on Bombardier Inc. et al. v. Dow Chemical Canada ULC et al.
- Super Lawyers Recognizes Many Schnader Attorneys in 2012
- Schnader Partner Carl Schaerf Offers Comment on eBay Lawsuit
- Products Liability in New York: Strategy and Practice, 2012 Revision
- Schnader’s Schaerf Presented with All Star Award from Altec Industries, Inc.
- “Made Abroad, Sued in the U.S.: Managing Liability Risk”
- Pennsylvania District Court Finds Supreme Court Failed to Adopt Clear Personal Jurisdiction Standard Over Foreign Defendant
- Sixty-Eight Schnader Attorneys Rated AV® Preeminent™ by Martindale-Hubbell®
- Super Lawyers Recognizes Many Schnader Attorneys in 2011
- Recent Second Circuit Opinion Invalidates Class Action Waiver Provision in a Commercial Contract
- “OSHA Crane Standards Take Effect”
- Post-Trial Practice and Procedures
- American Needle, Inc. v. National Football League – Is Every League or Association a “Walking Conspiracy” for Purposes of Antitrust Analysis?
- “New OSHA Standards Improve Position from the Start”
- “Are You Ready for OSHA? We Are!”
- OSHA Rules Change to Hazard Communication Standard
- The Third Circuit Clarifies the Robinson-Patman Act’s “Competing Purchaser” Requirement
- Super Lawyers Recognizes Many Schnader Attorneys in 2010
- “Defending Crane Manufacturers: New OSHA Standards Improve Position from the Start”
- Seven Schnader Attorneys Honored as 2009 New York Super Lawyers
- Case Argued by Schnader’s Carl Schaerf Featured by the Defense Research Institute
- Increased Wage & Hour and OSHA Activity Under Obama Administration Anticipated
- Defending Crane Manufacturers: New OSHA Crane Standards Likely To Improve Product Liability Defenses
- “Substantial Uncertainties and Troubling Implications Created by Leegin Creative Leather Products, Inc. v. PSKS, Inc.”
- Schaerf, Wilensky Write of New York Duty to Warn
- Schaerf Honored as Panel Counsel
- Schaerf Appointed to Leadership in DRI Committee
- Schnader Grows in New York and Pittsburgh
Education
- Fordham University School of Law, J.D., 1991
- Columbia College of Columbia University, B.A., 1988
Bar Admissions
- New York, 1992
- New Jersey, 1996
Court Admissions
- U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York
- U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York
- U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
- U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
Professional Affiliations
- Defense Research Institute, member, Steering Committee: Cranes and Derricks Committee
- International Association of Defense Counsel, member
- New York State Trial Lawyers Association, member
Other Distinctions
- Rated AV® Preeminent by Martindale-Hubbell®*
- Noted as a “New York Super Lawyer” for personal injury defense: products, 2007-2019*
- Fordham Law School Law Review
- Listed in The Best Lawyers in America for Product Liability Litigation-Defendants, 2017-2019*
*No aspect of this advertisement has been approved by the Supreme Court of New Jersey. Further information on methodologies is available via these links.
Representative Matters
Antitrust
Mr. Schaerf has successfully represented, among others, a major insurer alleged to have conspired with others concerning the terms and conditions of chiropractic coverage, and a large theatre chain alleged to have locked a competitor out of the market.
Class Action
Mr. Schaerf has successfully defended a major automotive manufacturer in two putative class actions, including one that was appealed to the Second Circuit. He also successfully represented a major insurer in a putative class action lawsuit challenging policies concerning post-accident replacement of auto-parts with non OEM equipment.
Product Liability
Mr. Schaerf recently won a precedential summary judgment decision in Siegman v. Schneider Electric, with significant implications for the government contractor’s defense. Mr. Schaerf wrote about the government contractor’s defense in this article, published by The Legal Intelligencer.
ERISA
Mr. Schaerf represents clients in employee benefits litigation, particularly under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). He has served as counsel to a national insurer concerning accident and health coverage, both in an ERISA and non-ERISA context.
Related Events
- Schnader Attorneys Presented NJCCA Program “The Scope of ERISA Preemption in Health Care Insurer-Provider Relationships”
- Carl Schaerf and Saul Wilensky Co-Chair New York State Bar Association Program – “Basics of Trial Practice – After the Verdict”
- Schnader Attorneys Present “OSHA’s Cranes and Derricks Standards Update: The Litigators’ Perspective”
- Schnader’s Schaerf, Loscalzo and Reimann Discuss What Every In-House Lawyer Should Know About Antitrust When Dealing With Distribution Issues
- Bankruptcy Implications in the New Economy, New Jersey Association of Corporate Counsel
- Regulatory and Licensing Schemes with Cranes
- Schnader’s Schaerf Speaks at DRI Webconference on Strategies and Tactics in Crane Collapse Cases
- Is Anything Safe to Eat? Defending Food Borne Illness Claims
- New York State Bar Association CLE – How to Litigate a Products Liability Case: The Fundamentals
