Carlton Fields Adds Insurance and Commercial Litigator Kenneth J. Cesta in New Jersey and New York

Carlton Fields is pleased to welcome Kenneth J. Cesta, a commercial litigator with more than 30 years of experience, to its New Jersey and New York offices. Cesta will be a member of the firm’s Property and Casualty Insurance practice. He comes to Carlton Fields following the addition of a five-lawyer property and casualty insurance litigation group who helped open the firm’s New Jersey office in January.

“Our new colleagues have tremendous strength across many areas of insurance and commercial litigation,” said Robert DiUbaldo, shareholder and co-chair of Carlton Fields’ Property and Casualty Insurance group, who is also admitted in New Jersey and has an active insurance-related litigation practice in the state. “Since the arrival of these talented lawyers, our clients nationwide are benefiting from the enhanced depth and focus of our litigation and property and casualty insurance practices. Ken adds greatly to our continued client industry focus at the firm.”

“We are thrilled to have Ken join our nationally recognized property and casualty insurance and litigation practices,” said Robert Novack, Carlton Fields’ New Jersey office managing shareholder. “Ken and I have worked together a great deal in the past, and Ken is well known to our clients. He brings both insurance and litigation capabilities. He’s a terrific addition to the firm.” 

In addition to defending insurers in matters involving insurance coverage disputes and bad faith litigation, Cesta regularly represents employers in actions involving all forms of employment discrimination, whistleblower retaliation, and workplace harassment, and he was previously part of a national trial team representing two public financial institutions in employment litigation throughout the U.S. His diverse litigation practice also includes class action securities litigation and enforcement, commercial disputes, consumer fraud, professional liability, probate and trust litigation, and shareholder/partnership disputes.

Cesta has extensive experience in the e-Discovery field implementing cost-effective e-Discovery and litigation readiness plans for his clients. He holds an eDiscovery Executive Certificate (eDEx) from and is a member of the Association of Certified E-Discovery Specialists (ACEDS) and is a frequent lecturer on e-Discovery topics.

Cesta is a former chair of the New Jersey District VB Ethics Committee and has been appointed on several occasions by the Supreme Court of New Jersey to serve as a Special Ethics Master in complex disciplinary actions brought by the N.J. Office of Attorney Ethics. Currently, he is a member of the Claims and Litigation Management Alliance (CLM) and the Association of the Federal Bar of New Jersey.

Prior to joining Carlton Fields, Cesta was a litigation partner with Hoagland Longo Moran Dunst & Doukas, LLP, a large New Jersey law firm, where he served on the firm’s Technology Committee. He has also been a litigation partner at Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge, an international law firm, where he served on the firm’s Professional Responsibility Committee.

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