Richard B. Specter

Richard B. Specter, born Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, September 6, 1952; admitted to bar, 1977, Missouri; 1978, Illinois; 1978, Pennsylvania; 1984, California. Preparatory education, Washington University (B.A., cum laude, 1974); legal education, George Washington University (J.D., 1977). Member: Orange County Bar Association; American Bar Association (Member: Litigation Section; Committee on Entertainment and Sports Industries); State Bar of California; Pennsylvania Bar Association; Illinois State Bar Association; Missouri Bar Association.

Mr. Specter offers twenty-five years of litigation experience, including complex matters with amounts in controversy extending into the hundreds of millions of dollars. His latest jury trial resulted in a four million dollar verdict for his client who had originally been sued in the matter. Mr. Specter also recently prosecuted a matter resulting in another multi-million dollar award to his client, and is a Member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum.

Mr. Specter has extensive experience before both Federal and State courts. He has acted as lead counsel in major litigation involving franchise disputes, distribution rights, unfair competition and trademark issues, and handled cases ranging from lenders’ liability to biotechnology. He has also been extensively involved in antitrust matters affecting the petroleum, sports and newspaper industries, Federal and State securities claims, and commercial transactions. Mr. Specter's trial experience includes products liability claims, business disputes, real estate matters, professional malpractice and banking litigation, as well as the successful defense of antitrust litigation involving the managed health care industry. Following the Firm’s defense of a derivative action, Mr. Specter prevailed on behalf of the Bank’s officers and directors and in recovery of their fees and expenses from the insurer, in a case of first impression under a regulatory exclusion.

In late 2004, Mr. Specter obtained a $45 million Federal Court judgment against multiple parties after a six month trial. Mr. Specter prevailed in the retrial of a complicated real estate fraud case, which was affirmed on appeal. In another trial, he successfully defended an insurance carrier in a claim involving bad faith allegations. Most recently, he obtained an injunction under California’s “Son of Sam” law, preventing a movie studio from paying rights fees to a convicted felon, which he argued before the California Supreme Court. In 2003, he obtained a monetary damage award in an action on behalf of a performing venue for the failure of a leading musical group to perform as contracted. In a separate case, he successfully protected the rights to the original music of Frank Sinatra. Mr. Specter has also successfully argued numerous appellate matters before both State and Federal Courts of Appeal, is a qualified lecturer for Continuing Legal Education courses in the State of California, and has provided expert witness testimony. He has been the subject of television interviews on NBC’s Today show, Extra and the Discovery Channel.