Richard Wm. Strawbridge, Senior Counsel
Email: rws@stbtrial.com
Phone: (312) 782-9320
Fax: (312) 782-3787
Office
161 North Clark Street
Suite 3575
Chicago, IL 60601
Rick is a well known successful fire litigation attorney with a practice concentrated primarily in the areas of subrogation and general liability defense. Rick has won verdicts for subrogated insurers that include those for $29 Million and $3.4 million (both upheld on appeal, and the latter arising from one of the largest fires in recent Chicago history), a recent arbitration award of $3.55 million, and he has also achieved numerous settlements for his clients in eight and seven figures. He has represented a major product manufacturer in defense of a $40 million subrogation claim and a serious personal injury case. Rick, has been based in Chicago his entire career, but has been admitted pro hac vice (often multiple times per state) in Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Washington, Oklahoma, Kentucky, and Kansas. Prior to joining the Firm, Rick was a partner in two other firms where he managed various subrogation client accounts, and he will continue to do so.
Rick’s substantive areas of practice include: product liability, breach of contract and/or warranty, UCC actions, negligence, warehouseman’s liability, municipal governmental agency liability, construction defects and structural collapses, water leaks and plumbing/piping failures and premises liability.
Jurisdictions Admitted To Practice
Illinois (1978)
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (Trial Bar)
Law School
John Marshall Law School (With Distinction) 1978
National Moot Court Team
College
Colgate University, B.A.
Extra-curricular: football, rugby
Professional Affiliations and Memberships
American Bar Association | www.americanbar.org
National Association of Subrogation Professionals |www.subrogation.org
National Fire Protection Association |www.nfpa.org
Publications, Presentations and Seminars
Author, 2011 Supplement to Subrogation chapter, Remedies in Equity, (Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education).
Co-Author, Chapter on Fire and Explosion Liability, Premises Liability Handbook (Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education).
Monograph, Retention of Unlicensed Investigators-A Hidden Time Bomb? (Circulated privately to clients and others).
Drafter, Model Act for the Licensing of Independent Insurance Adjusters.
Primer on the Technical and Legal Aspects of Litigation Arising from Fires or Explosions Caused by Natural Gas or Gas-Fired Equipment (intra-firm publication).
Various articles and client “alerts” in Firm’s client publication on legal issues or developments.
Presentation: It’s All About Money-Damages in Subrogation Cases (National Association of Subrogation Professionals, November, 2006).
Presentation: Premises Liability for Fires and Explosions (Chicago Bar Association).
Presentations: The Dangers of Retaining Unlicensed Investigators (Western Loss Association, 1995; CNA Insurance Company Seminar).
Presentations: Various presentations on Subrogation topics for Insurance companies and in-house education programs.
