Ricardo Echeverria

Ricardo Echeverria is a trial attorney with Shernoff Bidart Echeverria LLP handling insurance bad faith and catastrophic personal injury cases. Mr. Echeverria is a past-president of the Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles (CAALA) the nation’s largest local association of plaintiffs’ attorneys. He was recognized as one of the Top 30 Plaintiff Lawyers in California in 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2023, and was named one of the Top 100 Attorneys in California in 2017 and 2018 by the Los Angeles Daily Journal. He was honored by the Orange County Trial Lawyers Association as the 2021 Top Gun Trial Lawyer of the Year. In 2019, he was honored with the Lifetime Legal Achievement Award from Consumer Watchdog. In 2023, Ricardo was recently inducted into The Inner Circle of Advocates, known as the 100 best plaintiff lawyers in the U.S. The Inner Circle of Advocates is an exclusive, invitation-only group of the best plaintiff lawyers in the United States.

Mr. Echeverria’s trial record is distinguished by impressive victories including a $68 million jury verdict in a medical malpractice case in Fresno, CA (Perez et al. v Community Regional Medical Center, Pervaiz A. Chaudhry) the National Law Journal recognized the verdict as one of the Elite Trial Lawyer Top 50 Verdicts in 2018; a $42.4 million jury verdict to a pregnant mother who suffered a severe traumatic brain injury following a head-on collision (Diana Estevez v. Gregory Kadlec); a $25.7 million jury verdict in a catastrophic personal injury case (Elkins v. Murchison); a $17 million jury verdict in a catastrophic personal injury case where a security guard had his leg amputated in a forklift accident (Meier v. Pennysaver USA); a $15 million jury verdict in a wrongful death case involving a mother of two killed in a hit-and-run accident (Paregien v Perez dba E&M Trucking); a $13.2 million jury verdict in an auto v. bicycle hit-and-run accident (Wood v Venegas); a $10.5 million jury verdict to a former truck driver who had his leg amputated after a forklift accident (Singh v. Capay); a $7.2 million jury verdict against an insurance company for its failure to settle a claim within policy limits on behalf of its insured in Minnesota Federal Court (George Martin Co. v. Royal Insurance); a $6.9 million dollar jury verdict against Geico Insurance Company on behalf of a man injured in a motorcycle accident for unreasonably failing to settle within its $100,000 policy limit; a $6.2 million jury verdict in Orange County Superior Court on behalf of a 24-year-old developmentally disabled man who was struck by a car on an outing to the OC Fair (Dotson v. Aacres, LLC); a $5.1 million jury verdict against an insurance company for low-balling victims of the October 2003 California Wildfires (Stone v. Fidelity National); a $3.6 million jury verdict against an insurance company for its failure to pay on a $75,000 water loss claim under a homeowner’s insurance policy (Colombero v. USAA); a $3.3 million jury verdict against an insurance company for mishandling a fire claim for victims of the 2007 San Diego wildfires (Van Zee v. Homesite Insurance); a $3.2 million jury verdict in a wrongful death and personal injury trial (Rojas v HFS Enterprises); a $2.3 million jury verdict against an insurance agent in an agent negligence case (Fulton Santa Rosa v Sullivan Curtis Monroe Insurance Services); a $2 million jury verdict against an oil refinery in a breach of employment contract case (George Sturges, Jr. vs. Kern Fuels Research, LLC, et al.); a $1.9 million verdict on behalf of the City of Long Beach against its insurer in a coverage dispute (City of Long Beach v. AIG); a $1.8 million jury verdict for a computer software developer (Nunn v. Cigna); a $1.8 million verdict against the State of California in a wrongful death action (Musharbash v. State of California); a $1.2 million jury verdict in a personal injury matter (Berry v. Hicks); a $1 million jury verdict for a commercial property owner against a tenant for negligently causing a fire (Ramos-Lovato v. Community Bank); a $500,000 jury verdict in a personal injury and premises liability action (Smith v. Margaritaville, Inc.); and a $483,000 jury verdict in a personal injury and premises liability case (Ryan v. Hasbert).

Mr. Echeverria was named 2019 Trial Lawyer of the Year by Consumer Attorneys of Inland Empire and was also named the 2010 Trial Lawyer of the Year by the CAALA after having been nominated for the award from 2006 through 2009. He has also been a finalist for the Consumer Attorneys of California’s Consumer Attorney of the Year in 2007, 2009, and 2018. He was also a finalist for the San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association 2019 Trial Lawyer of the Year. Mr. Echeverria was presented the 2011 – 2012 Jennifer Brooks Lawyer of the Year Award by the Western San Bernardino County Bar Association. In 2012, he received an Outstanding Trial Lawyer Award from the Consumer Attorneys of San Diego. He has been named a Super Lawyer by Super Lawyers Magazine every year since 2005. He has been named a “Best Lawyer” by the Best Lawyers in America publication every year since 2014.

He is a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates ABOTA) and has been recognized as a Top 100 Trial Lawyer in the State of California by The National Trial Lawyers Association. In 2014, Mr. Echeverria was elected a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers (ACTL), which recognizes the top one percent of total trial attorneys in the country.

A frequent lecturer on insurance bad faith and managed care liability, Mr. Echeverria has been a featured speaker for the Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles, Consumer Attorneys of California, Consumer Attorneys of the Inland Empire, Consumer Attorneys of San Diego, Association of Trial Lawyers of America, Orange County Trial Lawyers Association, San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association, New York State Trial Lawyers Institute, Montana Trial Lawyers Association, The Rutter Group, Shernoff Bad Faith Insurance Seminar, Trial Guides, National Health Lawyers Association, Santa Clara University School of Law, UCLA School of Law, Loyola Law School, Whittier Law School, University of La Verne, College of Law, Southwestern Law School, Practicing Bar Institute, American Conference Institute, Lexington Insurance Seminar, Mealey’s Insurance Seminar, Los Angeles County Bar Association, Riverside County Bar Association, Beverly Hills Bar Association and the Marin County Bar Association.

He is a member of the State Bar of California, American Bar Association, Riverside County Bar Association, Los Angeles County Bar Association, Consumer Attorneys Association of California, Consumer Attorneys of the Inland Empire, and the Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles as a member of the Board of Governors since 2003 and its 2017 President.

He has co-authored numerous articles, including “Litigating an HMO Bad Faith Case from the Plaintiff’s Perspective,” “The Erosion of ERISA Preemption of Bad Faith Liability Actions,” “Punitive Damages in Insurance Bad Faith Cases,” “HMOs: Delay of Treatment” and “Holocaust Insurance Claims: Getting Justice 50 years Later.” Mr. Echeverria has also written several articles for Mealey’s Publications, including “Goodrich v. Aetna: A $120.5 million Commentary.”

Mr. Echeverria received his B.S., magna cum laude, from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo in 1990, and his J.D. from Santa Clara University in 1993.

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