Charles M. Rittgers - Lebanon, OH

Charles M. Rittgers is a trial lawyer with a strong record of success in high-stakes criminal defense and serious injury cases. With a rare blend of criminal defense and personal injury trial experience, Charlie brings a unique advantage to clients—applying the structured discovery and deposition strategies of civil law to the spontaneity of criminal defense, and vice versa, for sharper, more effective advocacy. Charlie is willing to take cases to jury trial that most lawyers would settle. He’s tried jury trials in federal and state courts and in multiple states.

In injury cases, Charlie has a long history of multi-million settlements for his clients and their families, including:

• $28 million truck crash settlement
• $12 million wrongful death settlement with no economic loss
• $11 million policy-limit settlement for a car crash victim
• $7 million policy-limit settlement for a man injured by a food delivery vehicle

He also has a history of 7-figure jury verdicts after little or no offers to settle were made, including:

• $15 million summary jury verdict in United States District Court, Southern District of Ohio for a motorcycle / construction zone crash (reduced to $9 million for comparative fault) after turning down a $1 million offer to settle
• $3 million slip and fall jury verdict in Hamilton County, Ohio after turning down at $26,000 offer to settle
• $1 million medical malpractice jury verdict for an IV extravasation with no economic loss in Campbell County, Kentucky after no offers to settle prior to trial

Charlie's criminal defense record includes not guilty jury verdicts for clients in numerous cases in which no plea bargain was offered by the prosecutor, including murder charges, felony sex offenses, and domestic violence cases. In 2019, he obtained a not guilty jury verdict in a case that garnered international attention that involved a false confession and an aggravated murder charge.

As a result of his experience, Charlie has appeared on national and local television shows and radio broadcasts. He has also served as moderator for local political debates, guest speaker to college graduate students, and featured speaker in educational webcasts for attorneys across the nation. Charlie is a certified member of the Multi Million Dollar Advocates Forum, one of the most prestigious groups of trial lawyers in the United States. Fewer than 1% of U.S. lawyers are members. He was selected to the Super Lawyers Rising Stars list by his peers who were asked to select the best attorneys under 40 years old and selected to the Super Lawyers list after turning 40 years old. Charlie was named to the Top 40 Under 40 by the American Trial Lawyers Association and Top 25 Motor Vehicle Trial Lawyers by The National Trial Lawyers. He is a fellow of the American Board of Criminal Lawyers (ABCL) and at the time of his induction was the youngest of all the lawyers in the state of Ohio (10 fellows in Ohio).

Charlie graduated from Lebanon High School and continued his education at Dartmouth College where he was a starting quarterback in the Ivy League. Following college, he worked in the high-paced environment of investment banking in New York City at Bank of America before returning home to attend law school at the University of Cincinnati. During law school Charlie worked for the Honorable Michael R. Barrett at the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio. He was also on law review.

In his spare time, Charlie enjoys spending time with his family, watching sports, and playing sports. Charlie has served on the Alumni Planning Committee and the Law Review Alumni Advisory Board for the University of Cincinnati College of Law. He has also served as an alumni interviewer for Dartmouth College. He is an active member in several local bar associations as well as the Ohio Association for Justice and the Ohio Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

Charlie and RRN give back to the community in a number of ways including volunteering, donating food, clothes, and money to great local non-profits. The firm also runs a backpack giveaway program for local students, giving 1,000 backpacks away each year that are stuffed with school supplies for families in need. Charlie currently is an advisory board member for Make A Wish in southern Ohio.