Matthiesen, Wickert & Lehrer, S.C. (“MWL”) is pleased to announce that Richard Schuster has been made a partner of the firm. Rich has been with MWL since 2012, concentrating his practice on large loss subrogation and product liability cases, including overseeing the firm’s involvement with the subrogation litigation surrounding the 2013 ammonium nitrate explosion at the West Fertilizer Company storage and distribution facility in West, Texas.
Rich has deep ties to Asia that make him one of the subrogation community’s most trusted sources when issues involving foreign products or claims arise. When insurers have claims involving Asian manufacturers, many attorneys find a way to pass on the work or provide clients with an unenforceable judgment. Rich finds ways to recover for his clients where others cannot. If you have already worked with Rich, you know that he knows more about the intricacies of subrogating claims against foreign entities by memory than most attorneys ever learn. If you have not yet asked Rich how he can help on your most important claims, please give him a call (he actually loves talking about this stuff!), get to know him, and let him show you how big an advantage he can be to your subrogation team.
Richard has managed or directly defended dozens of catastrophic exposure cases for manufacturers and insurers, often involving life-changing injuries and demands reaching as high as $20,000,000. He has been admitted pro hac vice to courts in Florida, Texas, California, Illinois, North Carolina, and Louisiana, among other states. In 2015, Rich helped a client win a federal court trial in North Carolina named the #2 noteworthy defense verdict in the entire state for the year 2015 by the North Carolina Lawyer’s Weekly.
Rich’s experience defending manufacturers is an incredible advantage in the courtroom when representing insurers and helping them to pursue claims against unscrupulous manufacturers who pedal defective or dangerous products. He knows how manufacturers operate and has a well-deserved reputation for using this knowledge in discovery and in preparing cases. Opposing counsels and their clients who have been on the wrong side of cases they initially said were worth little or no money only to plead to resolve the case after Rich’s unrelenting style achieved discovery of information and materials that turned a case know Rich is an adversary to be taken very seriously.
Rich graduated from the University of Wisconsin Law School. He also received his MBA from the National Chengchi University, in Taipei, Taiwan, where he was #1 in his class. Proficient in Mandarin Chinese, he joined MWL after practicing for several years in Asia helping international manufacturers with product liability cases, supply chain agreements, and other business challenges.
MWL is very proud and privileged to have Rich become partner in what our clients recognize as one of the premier insurance litigation law firms in the nation. Rich can be reached rschuster@mwl-law.com
