Richard Goetz

Partner

Rich Goetz is the head of O'Melveny's 180-attorney Los Angeles litigation group and is the Chair of the firmwide Class Actions, Mass Torts, and Aggregated Litigation Practice.

Rich also heads the firm's Products Liability Practice, which was shortlisted to receive an "Award For Excellence" from Chambers USA (2008). In 2008 he was selected as one of the top product liability lawyers in the United States by Institutional Investor's Benchmark: Litigation Guide, and was recognized by Legal 500 United States for "excellent" products liability defense work. He has defended individual, mass, and class actions across the country against medical device and prescription drug manufacturers, food companies, hotel chains, an automobile manufacturer, a boat manufacturer, a retail store chain, and a mining company. His recent clients include Johnson & Johnson and Merck & Co., Inc. He has spoken on California's unfair competition laws at Mealey's Litigation Conferences and has been a member of the national faculty for the ABA's Annual National Institute on Class Actions.

Rich also has extensive experience litigating insurance disputes. He represented insurers in the highly publicized class actions challenging insurance broker compensation, and is currently lead counsel in a major insurance coverage action pending in the California Supreme Court.  Rich is recognized by Chambers USA as one of the top insurance litigators in the United States. He has been invited by the California Court of Appeal to file amicus briefs in highly publicized insurance coverage litigation.

Rich has been counsel in a Tokyo arbitration before the Japanese Commercial Arbitration Association, has advised on matters pending in Liberia, and has represented clients from Brazil and China in U.S. courts. He has litigated entertainment and intellectual property disputes for a motion picture studio, a film director, a television producer, a sports marketing company, and a defense contractor; environmental actions for an electric utility, a steel company and an automobile manufacturer; construction disputes for a natural resources company; and securities actions for commercial and investment banks.

Professional Activities

Member, Product Liability Advisory Counsel (Sustaining Member); Executive Committee of the Los Angeles Bar Association Litigation Section; Board of Trustees of the Los Angeles County Bar Association (2003-05); Boards of Directors of the Los Angeles County Bar Foundation (2001-04), Volunteers of America of Los Angeles (VOA), and Uncommon Good; Pacific Council on International Policy; Judicial Appointments Committee of the Los Angeles County Bar Association
Honors, Named one of the top product liability lawyers in the United States by Institutional Investor’s Benchmark: Litigation Guide; Named a “leading lawyer” by both Chambers USA and Legal 500 United States; Recognized as a Southern California “Super Lawyer” in a survey published in the Los Angeles Times; Appears in Expert Guides’ handbook of the “World’s Leading Product Liability Lawyers” (2009)
Author, “A Defense Of The Learned Intermediary Doctrine,” Food & Drug Law Journal (co-authored with Karen Growdon) (2008); “Drug Manufacturers’ Interactions with the FDA About Drug-Label Content Are Entitled to Protection Under the Noerr-Pennington Doctrine,” Andrews Drug Recall Litigation Reporter (co-authored with Sabrina Strong) (2008)