- Defending an industry-leading pharmaceutical and consumer products company in:
- Nationwide litigation over prescription opioid medications.
- Product liability litigation in multiple states over the alleged side-effects of an over-the-counter pain reliever.
- Class action litigation over the risk and efficacy disclosures of sun-care products.
- Nationwide class actions over allegedly defective sutures.
- Nationwide litigation over a prescription antipsychotic medication alleged to increase the risk of diabetes.
- Product liability litigation in California, Florida, Illinois, and Texas over allegedly defective pain patches.
- Nationwide litigation over a prescription acid reflux medication alleged to cause cardiac arrhythmias.
- Class action litigation over the alleged failings of a blood glucose monitor.
- Class actions in West Virginia and Texas seeking personal injury damages for allegedly contaminated sutures.
- Class actions and personal injury cases alleging the mishandling of body tissue from the UCLA Willed Body Program.
- Defending Colgate-Palmolive and Hill's Pet Foods in consumer class actions.
- Defending Amylin Pharmaceuticals, an AstraZeneca company, in an MDL and in nationwide litigation over the diabetes drug Byetta®.
- Defending insurers in multiple insurance coverage actions.
- Defending Kia Motors America in class actions over allegedly defective automobiles.
- Defending a class action for a multinational semiconductor company related to an alleged security vulnerability.
- Defending personal injury and class action cases in an MDL and in various courts over the anti-inflammatory Vioxx® as a national counsel for Merck.
- Defending class actions for Vita Coco™ in California, New York, and Florida over labeling claims.
- Defending a class action for Kombucha tea products in California over labeling claims.
- Defending entertainment and intellectual property disputes for a motion picture studio, a film director, a television producer, a sports marketing company, and a defense contractor.
- Defending environmental actions for an electric utility, a steel company, and an automobile manufacturer.
- Defending construction disputes for a natural resources company.
- Defending securities actions for commercial and investment banks.
- Defending a New Jersey multidistrict antitrust and RICO class action that challenged insurance broker compensation as lead counsel for CIGNA.
- Defending the insurers in the Powerine II and Ameron coverage cases in the California Supreme Court as lead counsel.
- Filing amicus briefs in highly publicized environmental and asbestos litigation (invited by the California Court of Appeal).
- Leading an O’Melveny briefing team in a series of cases before the Mississippi Supreme Court that helped put significant limits on the joinder of parties in that state.
Admissions
Bar Admissions
- California
Court Admissions
- US Supreme Court
- US Court of Appeals for the Second, Sixth, Ninth and Tenth Circuits
- US District Court for the Central, Eastern, Northern and Southern Districts of California
- US District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan
Education
- University of Chicago, J.D., 1984: Associate Editor, Law Review, 1982–84
- Dartmouth College, A.B., 1981: summa cum laude; Phi Beta Kappa
Honors & Awards
- Ranked by Chambers USA for Product Liability & Mass Torts (2015-2026); Insurance: Dispute Resolution: Insurer (2010-2026); and Insurance: Insurer (2007-2026)
- Recognized by Best Lawyers in America for Insurance Law (2012-2026) and Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions - Defendants (2024) in Los Angeles, CA; Richard has been listed in Best Lawyers in America since 2012 and he has also been named “Lawyer of the Year” (Insurance Law) in local jurisdiction (2021)
- Named one of the “500 Leading Litigators in America” by Lawdragon (2022-2025)
- Named as a member of the “Hall of Fame” by The Legal 500 US for Insurance: Advice to Insurers
- Recommended by The Legal 500 US for General Commercial Disputes; Healthcare: Life Sciences; Product Liability, Mass Tort and Class Action - Defense: Automotive/Transport; Product Liability, Mass Tort and Class Action - Defense: Consumer Products (Including Tobacco); Product Liability, Mass Tort and Class Action - Defense: Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices; Product Liability, Mass Tort and Class Action - Defense: Toxic Tort
- Named to the “Top 100 Lawyers” list, Daily Journal (2021)
- California Lawyer Attorney of the Year Award, Daily Journal (2021)
- Named a “Superstar Of Insurance Law” by Insurance Business Magazine (2021)
- Named National Practice Area Star, Litigation Star, and Local Litigation Star by Benchmark Litigation in Securities, Product Liability and Recall, Commercial, Energy
- Named “Life Sciences Star” for Product Liability by LMG Life Sciences (2018-2020)
- Leading Lawyer, Chambers USA
- Client Service All-Star, BTI
- Southern California “Super Lawyer,” Law & Politics magazine
- World’s Leading Product Liability Lawyers, Expert Guides
- Top 3,000, Lawdragon
Professional Activities
Member
- Board of Directors (Chair) of Volunteers of America of Los Angeles
- Board of Directors (Co-Chair) of The Pacific Council on International Policy
- Advisory Board of Saks Institute for Mental Health Law, Policy, and Ethics
- Board of Directors of Uncommon Good
- Product Liability Advisory Council (Sustaining Member)
- Former member of Executive Committee of the Los Angeles Bar Association Litigation Section
- Former member of Law360's Insurance Editorial Advisory Board
- Board of Trustees of the Los Angeles County Bar Association (2003–2005 and 2012–2014)
- Judicial Appointments Committee of the Los Angeles County Bar Association (multiple terms under Governors Davis, Schwarzenegger, and Brown)
Author
- “A Matter of Time: To Propel the Guantánamo Cases Toward Trial, Send in Federal Judges with the Authority to Enforce Scheduling Orders; A Report from the Pacific Council on International Policy Guantánamo Bay Task Force” (2018)
- “How to Fix Guantanamo's Broken Justice,” co-authored with K. Jack Riley, Jerrold D. Green, Michelle Kezirian, Newsweek (2016)
- “Up To Speed: To Fairly and Transparently Expedite the Guantanamo Trials, Put Federal Judges in Charge; A Report of the Pacific Council on International Policy GTMO Task Force” (2016)
- “Mass Tort Settlement Strategies,” co-authored with Catalina Vergara, and “Class Action Settlements,” co-authored with Carlos M. Lazatin and Esteban Rodriguez, Product Liability Litigation: Current Law, Strategies, and Best Practices, Practising Law Institute (2013)
- “Country Dialogue: North Korea,” Trip Report of Delegation Visit to Pyongyang, Wonsan, Nampho Port and Kaesong/DMZ, co-authored with Jennifer Faust, Pacific Council on International Policy (2012)
- “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)
- 2014 ABA State-by-State Survey of the Statutes of Limitation and Repose Applicable to Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Litigation, California section
Contributing Editor
- California Practice Guide: Civil Procedure Before Trial, The Rutter Group
- Product Liability Litigation: Current Law, Strategies, and Best Practices, Practising Law Institute
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