Richard enjoys a stellar reputation as a talented, first-tier trial lawyer with over 40 years of trial experience in both Utah and California. His courtroom experience includes scores of major jury trials in the areas of complex commercial litigation and catastrophic injury. He is admired for conducting a thorough review of cases to determine their merit, his meticulous and careful preparation, and his forceful and effective advocacy of each client’s cause. Richard’s closing arguments tend to gather a crowd.
Year after year, Super Lawyers Magazine has singled Richard out as one of the Top 10 trial lawyers in the Intermountain West, and Best Lawyers publication cited Richard as “Plaintiff’s Personal Injury Litigation Lawyer of the Year” and as Utah’s Top “Bet-the-Company Lawyers.” He has also received the Trial Lawyer of the Year award from the American Board of Trial Advocates; has been listed as one of the Best Lawyers in America since 1995; and is one of Utah’s Litigation Stars in Benchmark Litigation’s Definitive Guide to America’s Leading Litigation Firms and Attorneys.
In Chambers and Partners:
Sources say “Richard Burbidge is a fantastic courtroom lawyer whom sources would always turn to when a tenacious advocate is needed.”
“Richard Burbidge is one of the finest litigation attorneys in Utah, exemplifying the firm’s reputation for superb trial work.”
Richard has achieved a highly regarded international and national reputation as President and a Fellow of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers, a Fellow of the International Society of Barristers, a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, and a Fellow of the American Board of Trial Advocates.
Dedicated to teaching the art and science of advocacy, Richard has been a frequent speaker and teacher in multiple trial seminars and served for years as an adjunct professor in trial advocacy at the University of Utah School of Law.
Areas of Practice
- Trial Practice
- Complex Commercial Litigation
- Catastrophic Personal Injury
- Mass Torts
Recognition
- Utah State Bar 2022 Lifetime Achievement Award
- America's Top 100 Bet the Company Litigator
- Utah's Legal Elite
- Top 10 Super Lawyer, Mountain States, 2012 - 2023
- BEST LAWYERS Publication – Lawyer of the Year, Plaintiff Personal Injury Litigation Lawyer
- BEST LAWYERS Publication – Lawyer of the Year, “Bet the Company Lawyer”
- Martindale-Hubbell-AV Preeminent Rating, 2023
- American Board of Trial Advocates – Utah Trial Lawyer of the Year
- California Consumer Attorney of the Year, 2017
- UMBA Distinguished Lawyer of the Year, 2017
Leadership
- President of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers, 2016 - 2017
Admissions
- Utah State Bar
- U.S. District Court, District of Utah
- Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals
- Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals
- Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
- United States Court of Federal Claims
- United States Supreme Court
Education
- University of Utah, S.J. Quinney College of Law, J.D., (1972)
- High honors
- University of Utah, B.A., Political Science (1969)