Founding Partners

Richard Gerry

An inspiration to many, Richard Gerry lived his life to the fullest. As well as being a dedicated litigator, he was a cattle rancher, a big-game hunter, a pilot and a devoted husband and father of three.

Throughout a 40-year legal career, Gerry settled hundreds of cases for clients and their families claiming illness and death from exposure to asbestos. In addition, he handled cases involving the aviation and automotive industries, pesticide producers and the federal government.

"Over the years, many successful attorneys have told me how much Dick inspired them," said David Casey Jr., who worked with Gerry for more than 30 years. "His contributions to our firm and field of law were innumerable, and he will be sorely missed. But his spirit will live on in the hearts of the many whose lives he touched, including the dozens of lawyers he mentored over the years."

A founding partner of Casey Gerry Reed & Schenk, Gerry was also a tireless environmental advocate, and perhaps best known for his work in representing plaintiffs in the Exxon Valdez oil-spill case.

He was one of four trial lawyers participating in the high profile suit against Exxon Corp., which involved the massive oil spill following the 1989 crash of the Exxon Valdez oil tanker. Five years later, after a four-month trial, a jury awarded a class of 32,000 plaintiffs a verdict in excess of $5 billion.

Born in Winona, Minn., and raised in Billings, Mont., he lived a colorful life, with highlights including eight years in the merchant marine, where he participated in South Pacific campaigns during World War II, and a stint as a cattle rancher in Brazil.

He embarked on a law career upon earning bachelor's and law degrees at Columbia University. After moving to the Bay Area in 1956, he worked for Melvin Belli, the famed "King of Torts." Two years later he became a partner in Belli's firm. In 1969, he joined what later became Casey, Gerry, Reed & Schenk.

Gerry's career accolades were many, and included presidency of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America, induction into the Consumer Attorneys of San Diego Hall of Fame and recognition as an "outstanding personal injury expert" in Best Lawyers in America.

An avid outdoorsman, Gerry enjoyed many activities in his spare time, among them hunting, golf, tennis, fishing, scuba diving and horseback riding. He is survived by his wife Charlotte, three children and three grandchildren.