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Richard T. Bowles

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Practice Areas

  • General Civil Litigation
  • General Business Transactions

Biography

I founded Bowles & Verna in 1985 to be able to assist real individuals in solving their business and litigation needs.   When I first began practicing law as an insurance defense litigator, I rapidly gained a tremendous amount of court room experience.  I have built on this experience by focusing my practice on various areas of general, business, construction, real estate, professional liability and property liability litigation.

Since that time, my practice has evolved into representing transactional and business clients in their business needs and disputes, including the formation of corporate entities, employment disputes, contractual requirements and disputes with third parties.  

I work with a wide range of clients in my practice, from individual business owners to large Bay Area corporations, and take great pride in being able to "jump" into any type of business or litigation dispute to assist my clients.  I have focused the firm on working with and for a client -- the case belongs to the client, not the law firm.  As a result of our client-based litigation approach, I am consistently referred clients from other attorneys and former adversaries.  To date, I have tried over 150 cases.  Recent accomplishments include:

•  $44 million jury verdict against a nationally known developer, including punitive damages in a development/land fraud case;
•  $7+ million bad faith judgment against a national insurance company, including punitive damages;
•  $2 million judgment a real estate partnership dispute, with nominal punitive damages;
•  $1 million judgment against a major national bank for breach of lease;
•  A multi-million dollar settlement in a medical/hospital malpractice case; and
•  A court trial successfully amending a longstanding partnership agreement to preserve the ownership of multi-million dollar ranch properties. 

Education

  • University of California, Hastings College of the Law, San Francisco, California
    • J.D. – 1969
    • Honors: cum laude
    • Honors: With Honors
    • Law Review: Hastings Law Review, Articles Editor, 1968 – 1969
  • University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, California
    • B.S. – 1966
    • Major: Business

Bar Admissions

  • California, 1969
  • U.S. Court of Appeals 9th Circuit
  • U.S. District Court Northern District of California
  • U.S. District Court Central District of California
  • U.S. District Court Southern District of California

Professional Associations

  • California Bar Association, Member
  • Contra Costa County Bar Association, Member
  • San Francisco Bar Association, Member
  • American Bar Association, Member
  • Litigation Counsel of America

Honors

  • Super Lawyers - Northern California (10+ years)

Past Positions

  • Bronson, Bronson & McKinnon, Attorney/Partner, 1969 to 1985