Richard A. Muench
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Defense Verdict Highlights Rick is an experienced trial lawyer in premises liability, vehicle accident liability, and products liability litigation. His trial record is outstanding, including 21 defense verdicts and 2 "medical bills" awards in his 21 civil jury trials. He is Southern California regional lead litigation counsel for Costco Wholesale, Hilton, WD-40 Company, Hewlett Packard, Diamond Parking, State Farm's Special Investigations Fraud and Homeowners Units, and Swiss Re, a leading specialty public entity insurer. In his Toxic Tort practice, he was the point person for several clients on the leading edge of a successful, aggressive new litigation strategy in which "cost of defense" settlements were no longer an option. The result has been 15 successive dismissals without the payment of any settlement money, and a significant reduction is case filings against his clients. Rick won the largest consolidated litigation ever filed against one of the largest U.S. warehouse retail companies involving a shootout during an armored car pickup. The seven cases involved catastrophic injuries and a total exposure in excess of $10 million. He successfully obtained summary judgment for the warehouse company on all of the cases. Rick was named a "Southern California Rising Star" in the September 2004 Edition of Los Angeles Magazine. Speaking Engagements and Presentations Rick was a featured speaker at the National Costco Defense Counsel Conference on the impact of Ortega v. K-Mart on defending premises liability claims. He has been a featured presenter about premises liability at the annual meeting of the Southern California Tourism & Safety Association. He frequently presents free training seminars to his clients on incident investigation, claim evaluation, and dynamic changes in California law effecting their business and liability. Personal Interests Rick was captain of the Track & Field team at the University of Notre Dame. He still ranks in the top 10 all-time performers at Notre Dame for the high jump and triple jump events. He was an All-CIF basketball player at Mission Viejo High School. He has completed two full marathons. He enjoys spending time with his wife and two children.