Brian R. Ade dedicates a substantial portion of his legal practice to cases involving construction defects, product liability, utilities, and insurance coverage. He has defended companies and individuals in connection with claims ranging from hazardous chemicals and chemical waste to trip-and-fall litigations. Brian’s clients include manufacturers and distributors of diverse medical, consumer, commercial, and industrial products. He is the preeminent New Jersey lawyer in roof law litigation.

In the area of products liability, Brian has had a remarkable run of successes in over ten cases involving a number of different products. One of those cases settled in mediation, and the rest were voluntarily dismissed without the need for motion practice!

In connection with his insurance practice, Brian has handled a wide variety of coverage disputes arising under many different policy lines. He regularly counsels clients on coverage issues arising under automobile, comprehensive general liability, excess, umbrella, and other types of insurance policies.

In addition to providing advice and counseling, Brian represents insurers in coverage litigation, and was involved in two landmark insurance cases before the Supreme Court of New Jersey. Recently, Brian has spent a significant amount of time on the insurance coverage issues arising out of sexual abuse claims and claims asserting that talc caused or contributed to ovarian cancer and mesothelioma in thousands of users.

He has been a member of CLM, a nonpartisan alliance of insurance companies, corporations, corporate counsel, litigation and risk managers, claims professionals and attorneys. Selected attorneys and law firms are extended membership invitations based on nominations from CLM Fellows.

Often at the forefront of cutting-edge issues, several years ago, Brian was retained by the Complex Insurance Claims Litigation Association (CICLA) to file an amicus brief with the Supreme Court of New Jersey in Continental Insurance Company, et al. v. Honeywell International, Inc., Docket No. 078152. The case involved allocation issues in the context of asbestos claims, and whether the trigger of coverage should extend beyond the introduction of asbestos exclusions into Honeywell’s insurance policies.

Brian is an active member of the Insurance Law Committee of the Defense Research Institute (DRI), the Product Liability Committee of the Bergen County Bar Association, and the American Bar Association’s Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section (TIPS). In March 2014, Brian was appointed by TIPS to serve as a senior member of the editorial board of the CGL Reporter and served in that capacity until recently.

Brian co-authored the New Jersey chapter to the 2014 edition of Writing Reservation of Rights: A North American Compendium, published by the DRI Insurance Law Committee. In 2012, he served as the regional editor for DRI’s Excess and Umbrella Compendium.

Brian has been named to Best Lawyers in America^® for Insurance Law from 2006 to 2025 and for Commercial Litigation and Litigation – Environmental from 2021 to 2025. He also was named a New Jersey Super Lawyer multiple times and has been recognized as a Bergen’s Top Lawyer in 2019 through 2023 by (201) Magazine. Since 2019, The Legal 500 has recommended Rivkin Radler’s Insurance Coverage practice in the insurance: advice to insurers category. Since 2015, the Insurance Coverage Group has been recognized in the Chambers USA directory.(No aspect of this advertisement has been approved by the Supreme Court of New Jersey)