Derek Ruzicka
CO-OWNER, MEMBER – ATTORNEY
Practice Areas: Business Litigation, Catastrophic Injury, Construction, General Liability, Insurance, Premises Liability, Product Liability, Professional Liability, Toxic Torts, Transportation Liability
About Derek
Attorney In St. Louis, MO
Derek Ruzicka focuses his practice on catastrophic litigation, long-tail and legacy liability, and enterprise risk management for capital-intensive businesses. He regularly represents international construction companies, automotive manufacturers and component suppliers, industrial furnace manufacturers, industrial laundry and loading dock equipment manufacturers, pharmaceutical companies, and insurance carriers, as well as medium and small construction companies, in high-exposure litigation across the Midwest and in multistate matters.
His experience includes asbestos and toxic-tort defense, mass tort defense, complex product liability, catastrophic injury, and wrongful death cases, involving low-frequency but high-severity risk. In addition to litigation strategy, Derek advises clients on insurance coverage analysis, allocation and indemnity issues, reserve accuracy, portfolio litigation management, and early case assessment, helping organizations manage balance-sheet risk and reduce long-term volatility.
Derek works closely with in-house legal departments, insurers, and business leadership to align litigation strategy with broader operational, regulatory, and financial objectives. He is frequently entrusted with matters involving legacy liability, risk transfer, and portfolio-level resolution strategies, where predictability and long-term outcomes are critical.
Background
Education:
- Valparaiso University
- Southern Illinois University Carbondale, School of Law
Associations
- Lawyers Association of St. Louis, CLM, DRI
- Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel
- Missouri Organization of Defense Lawyers
Licensure
- Missouri
- Illinois
- United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois
- United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri
Awards
- St. Louis Small Business Monthly’s “STL’s Best Attorneys for 2025” Award
- Super Lawyers (2020-present)
- Super Lawyers Rising Star (2008-present)
- Moderator – Western Region Captive Insurance Association Conference
- America’s Top 100 Personal Injury Attorneys® for 2022
Publications
- When Should You Consider Retaining National Coordinating Counsel? – Missouri Captive Insurance Association – 2016
- Missouri Bar CLE Deskbook Series, Construction Law, 2009 Supplement, Chapter 1, “Construction Contracts: Risk Shifting Devices” (2009 & 2015)
- “Show Me How to Pick a Lab and Present Convincing Evidence at Trial,” Missouri Organization of Defense Lawyers, 24th Annual Meeting
- It’s Political, You Can’t Be Offended! A Discussion of the Student Speech Analysis in Guiles ex. Rel. Guiles V. Marineau, 461 F.3D 320 (2d Cir. 2006)
Representative matters
- Defense of international construction companies in asbestos, toxic-tort, and catastrophic injury litigation involving multi-site exposure allegations and long-tail liability claims.
- Representation of automotive manufacturers and component suppliers in complex product liability and toxic-tort matters, including coordination of multi-defendant litigation and allocation issues.
- Defense of industrial furnace, industrial laundry, and loading dock equipment manufacturers in asbestos, toxic-tort, and catastrophic injury and wrongful death cases arising from alleged historical product exposure.
- Representation of pharmaceutical companies in high-exposure litigation involving alleged toxic exposure, complex causation issues, and regulatory considerations.
- Defense of insurance companies and excess carriers in matters involving long-tail liability, allocation, indemnity disputes, and insurance coverage analysis related to asbestos and toxic-tort claims.
- Counsel to medium and small construction companies in catastrophic injury, wrongful death, and toxic-tort matters, including risk assessment, early case evaluation, and portfolio-level litigation strategy.
- Advising corporate clients on insurance coverage analysis, reserve accuracy, risk transfer strategies, and early case assessment in connection with high-exposure litigation portfolios.
- Strategic guidance on portfolio litigation management and legacy liability resolution, including coordination of defense strategy across jurisdictions and multistate matters.
- Represented Canadian manufacturer of dock leveling equipment in wrongful death lawsuit in hostile venue. Multiple parties were involved in the litigation, and after motion practice and mediation, managed to resolve the claim for a fraction of the contributions of other parties in the case.
- Represented a data service provider in a catastrophic motorcycle death collision. After litigation, mock trial, and mediation, resolved the matter on reasonable terms.
- Represented a large electrical contractor in a jobsite double death claim involving multiple parties.
- Defended custom home builder in defective home lawsuit, post-judgment veil-piercing litigation involving allegations of fraud. Brought the claim to resolution favorable to company owners.
- Represented geotechnical engineering firm sued in a defective construction and surveying claim involving multiple parties by large municipal sewer provider. Brought the claims to favorable resolution after lengthy litigation and mediation.
- Represented geotechnical engineering firm in natural gas exposure injury and death lawsuit. Multiple parties involved in the litigation, which came to favorable resolution after mediation.
