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Robert B. Ryder

Mr. Ryder is one of the founding Partners of the firm. He is a very active trial attorney and his well-reasoned, prepared and analytical approach is always well-received by juries. Given his years of experience and full range of expertise, he is involved in a large number of practice areas, including General Casualty Defense, Premises Liability, Professional Liability, Automobile Liability Defense, Government Tort Litigation, Business Transactions, Bad Faith Litigation, Americans With Disabilities Litigation, Product Liability, Business Litigation and Asbestos Litigation Defense.

Mr. Ryder also is involved in many of the transactional practice areas based upon both his business and legal education and experience. He practices in California and Nevada.

His interests include scuba diving and digital underwater photography, snow skiing, travel, jazz music and he is an amateur piano player. He also is a fan of several sports teams, including the Angels, Lakers and Raiders.

Professional Activities

Mr. Ryder was inducted into the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA). He is a member of the Los Angeles Bar Association, Orange County Bar Association, Clark County Bar Association, Association of Southern California Defense Counsel and the Defense Research Institute.

He is a member of the University of Santa Clara Alumni Association, the University of San Diego Alumni Association and judges law student competitions at Chapman University. He also is a volunteer teacher with the ABOTA Jury Trial Education Program.

Trial results include: Hayes v. New Albertsons, Inc., wherein he successfully defended a truck driver client in a personal injury/wrongful death case in Orange County, California. In Sykes v. Albertsons, he defensed a personal injury case on behalf of the supermarket involving a 69-year-old woman with an alleged claim that a beer case falling on her head led to multiple closed head injuries in Orange County, California. In Gruber v. Waechter, Hursman, Spectrum Med Systems, he was lead counsel on a case assigned to BVRC 10 days before the 5th trial appearance date after all discovery had been handled by a solo corporate attorney with no litigation experience. Four plaintiffs had sued the designer and manufacturer of a unitary catheter system over a contract dispute. After one juror swayed the panel into a large verdict completely unsupported by the evidence, the court recognized the impropriety of the verdict and granted a new trial, at which point the plaintiffs settled the action for $81,000 versus the $5.6 million sought.

Mr. Ryder's aggressive litigation work has resulted in numerous positive resolutions for the firm's clients. In one case, he successfully obtained a successful outcome for the City of Hermosa Beach, California, after a plaintiff argued the City police officers were responsible for not fully investigating the scene of a fall and paramedics misdiagnosed plaintiff's head injury, leaving plaintiff with brain damage. The prevailing summary judgment motion was based upon causation and discretionary immunities.

In another case, Mr. Ryder defended a Las Vegas supermarket in a third party criminal assault case in which plaintiff alleged emotional distress and psychological treatment following a shooting rampage at the store which left four employees dead and a fifth employee seriously wounded. His work resulted in the only known granted summary judgment in this area of law in Nevada under the "totality of circumstances" rule.

Admissions

  • California Bar
  • Nevada Bar

Education

  • University of Santa Clara, BSC
  • University of San Diego Graduate School of Business, MBA, beta gamma sigma
  • University of San Diego School of Law, JD
  • Extern, U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of California, Voting Rights Act