Richard A. Ergo is a 1983 graduate of the University of Utah College of Law and a 1978 graduate of the University of California, Davis (with honors). He was an associate of Adams, Duque & Hazeltine in its Los Angeles and San Francisco offices from 1983 to 1985. In 1985, Mr. Ergo joined Richard T. Bowles in founding the firm. Mr. Ergo has been a partner in Bowles & Verna since 1989.

Mr. Ergo has tried and arbitrated more than 30 cases. His litigation experience includes life, health and disability insurance, products liability, unfair business practices & trade secrets matters, general business, and personal injury. He currently serves as Products Liability National Counsel for Worthington Cylinder Corporation and Grand Hall Enterprise Co., Ltd. He also represents manufacturers in product recalls and other matters involving the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Mr. Ergo's practice includes representing clients in cases throughout the United States. In addition to California, he has appeared as counsel of record in cases venued in New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, Michigan, Florida, Arizona, New Jersey, Georgia, Oklahoma, Nevada, Colorado, Alabama and Idaho.

Mr. Ergo holds memberships in the American Bar Association (Section of Science and Technology, Section of Torts & Insurance Practice ("TIPS") and has served as a vice chair of both the TIPS Life Insurance Law Committee and the Products, General Liability and Consumer Law Committee), the Defense Research Institute (Products Liability and Life, Health and Disability Committees), the International Bar Association, the Propane Gas Defense Association and the Contra Costa County Bar Association.

Highlights of Mr. Ergo's experience:


• A $5.7 million judgment in Contra Costa County in favor of a life insurance company, after a five-week trial, against a former agent of the company. The agent allegedly misrepresented to an insured that a $2 million premium would indefinitely sustain a $10 million universal life insurance policy on a 70 year old woman with a table DD rating. The judgment represented the cost of a substitute policy the company gave the insured in settlement of the insured's claims against the company. As a result of this verdict, Mr. Ergo was featured in an article in the Verdicts & Settlements supplement in the June 6, 1997 edition of the Los Angeles and San Francisco Daily Journal.
  
  
• A defense verdict in a four-week jury trial in Fresno County when the plaintiffs alleged that a propane retailer overfilled a propane cylinder. Mr. Ergo demonstrated that the cylinder was not overfilled and that the accident resulted from other causes. Plaintiffs' pre-trial settlement demand of $2 million was rejected.
  
  
• A $3.5 million settlment in a Los Angeles County action in favor of a distributor of nutritional supplements against a subsidiary of a foreign public company who breached a multi-million dollar purchase order.
  
  
• A defense verdict in a two-week products liability action in Orange County. Mr. Ergo represented a Taiwanese company and two U.S. companies against allegations of a manufacturing defect in a propane valve. Prior to trial, plaintiff's $550,000 settlement demand was rejected.
  
  
• A successful defense of a products liability jury trial in Federal Court in Phoenix, Arizona. Mr. Ergo represented a major U.S. retailer and the Taiwanese manufacturer of a propane barbecue grill against claims of inadequate warnings. During the trial, plaintiff agreed to dismiss the action with prejudice for a waiver of costs.
  
  
• A defense verdict in a four-week jury trial in San Francisco in a real property class action matter. Plaintiffs alleged that defendants (associated with various limited partnerships & limited liability companies) had improperly managed several Class A apartment complexes and several tracts of unimproved property. Plaintiffs sought to compel the sale of the apartment complexes and to recover money damages for claimed breaches of fiduciary duty. Prior to trial, the plaintiffs class representatives made combined settlement demands in excess of $25 million.
  
  
• Nominal contribution (less than 10%) to a seven figure settlement after the close of evidence in a six-week products liability trial in Bronx County, New York. Mr. Ergo's client was charged with providing inadequate product warnings. Separate settlement demands to Mr. Ergo's client of $2,000,000 during jury selection and $1,000,000 during the course of the trial were rejected.
  
  
• A defense verdict in Sacramento County after a three-week trial in a products liability action involving allegations that a propane cylinder had various design defects. The verdict was obtained after rejecting plaintiff's initial demand for $250,000 and a subsequent demand for a "high low" format of between $500,000 and $5 million.
  
  
• A successful defense in Federal Court in San Francisco of an agent termination and defamation action. Summary judgment was granted for interference claims. The case settled after a five-week trial while the jury was deliberating.
  
  
• A nominal plaintiff's award defending in a two-month trial in Santa Clara County involving an insurance agent termination action. The court found "after acquired evidence" established cause for the termination and limited plaintiff's damages. The case was tried against a $3 million demand. The plaintiff's award was restricted to various vested pension and deferred compensation monies. The court rejected all claims for future lost compensation and injunctive relief.
  

Personal Information

Mr. Ergo was born on June 10, 1956 in Chicago, Illinois while his father was attending law school at Northwestern University. He earned two varsity letters in baseball while attending U.C. Davis. Between undergraduate studies and law school, Mr. Ergo drove an "eighteen wheeler" hauling rice, wheat and tomatoes and worked at Snowbird Ski Resort in Utah where he skied 97 days in one season. Mr. Ergo is married to Linda S. Ergo and has four children ranging from middle school to college age. His oldest son served 4 years in the Marines and was awarded the Navy & Marine Corps Commendation Medal for his service in Fallujah. Mr. Ergo has coached youth baseball, soccer and basketball for more than 20 years. Mr. Ergo is a board member of the Northgate Community Pride Foundation and a past board member of the Walnut Creek Little League and the Walnut Creek Fountain for Youth Foundation.