1. Richard R. Gerner
12281 Lexington Park Drive
Apartment #208
Tampa, FL 33626
(813)-510-4028 (Home)/(908)-917-7066 (Cell)
E-Mail Address: rgerner@brighthouse.com
EDUCATION:
Touro College, Jacob D. Fuchsburg Law Center, Huntington, NY
Attended 1 year of Law School in the Long Island suburb of Huntington.
Rider University, Lawrenceville, New Jersey
Graduated in December 2000 from the Law and Justice Program in the College of Continuing Studies.
Publications
Wrote and published a 60 page thesis in the Tort & Insurance Law Journal, Vol. 36, No.
1, Fall 2000, under the supervision of the University’s Associate Provost, James
Castagnera, Esq., Ph.D.
Mercer County Community College, West Windsor, New Jersey
Graduated in 1995 from the college’s ABA Approved Legal Assistant program with an A.A.S. degree in
the area of Paralegal Studies.
EXPERIENCE:
· Trial preparation, trial appearances, and trial assistance.
· Tried multiple multi-million dollar cases including trials lasting up to 8 weeks.
· Insurance Defense of Worker's Compensation Claims and Defense of General Liability
Claims.
· Determined if coverage applied, managed a high volume of claims, obtained medical records,
conducted all necessary investigations, assessed and summarized complex medical records,
negotiated with medical providers, negotiated the settlement of claims, attended settlement
conferences, and ultimately settled claims.
· Retained and managed medical experts and assisted in the trial preparation of the medical
evidence and expert questioning.
· Deposition attendance and summaries.
· Appeared at settlement conferences and settled claims.
· Reviewed and analyzed complicated medical records and permanency evaluations,
including catastrophic injuries such as fatalities, paralysis, and head trauma/brain injury matters.
· Reviewed and analyzed Contracts, Sub-Contracts, and General Liability Policies.
· Managed attorneys and monitored cases that went to outside counsel.
· Conducted intake interviews of clients, conducted investigations, prepared clients for
depositions, assisted with answering interrogatories and other discovery requests, and engaged in
settlement negotiations.
· Attended document inspections, site inspections, managed voluminous files, and prepared
trial notebooks.
· Prepared Motions, Briefs, Subpoenas, and Pleadings.
· Prepared Discovery Logs and Privilege Logs.
· Prepared correspondence to adversaries, clients, and the Court.
EMPLOYMENT:
June 2004 to May 2016: State of New Jersey, Department of Law & Public Safety – Attorney Assistant
2. Worked in the Employment Litigation Section. Primary responsibilities include the initial investigation of
a matter, all stages of discovery, and all stages of trial preparation including assisting throughout all
stages of trial; Conduct witness preparation for depositions and trial; Manage voluminous files; Attend
document inspections; Summarize and analyze complicated medical records; Determine if a medical
expert or apportionment expert is necessary; Retain and manage medical experts; Prepare Responses to
Discovery Requests, Discovery Logs, and Privilege Logs; Draft Motions, Briefs, Subpoenas, and
Pleadings; Review and analyze complicated medical records and permanency evaluations; Deposition
summaries; Assist in the settlement of cases; Prepare trial notebooks and trial exhibits; Trial appearances.
I have assisted in trying multiple multi-million dollar cases, which have lasted up to 8 weeks and all
which have resulted in defense verdicts.
Worked in the Tort Litigation Section from June 2008 to November 2014. Primary responsibilities
include the initial investigation of a matter, all stages of discovery, and all stages of Trial preparation;
Manage voluminous files; Attend document inspections; Summarize and analyze complicated medical
records; Determine if a medical expert or apportionment expert is necessary; Retain and manage medical
experts; Prepare Responses to Discovery Requests, Discovery Logs, and Privilege Logs; Draft Motions,
Briefs, Subpoenas, and Pleadings; Review and analyze complicated medical records and permanency
evaluations; Deposition summaries; Assist in the settlement of cases; Prepare trial notebooks and trial
exhibits; Trial appearances. I have assisted in trying multiple multi-million dollar catastrophic injury and
wrongful death cases, all of which have resulted in defense verdicts.
April 2003 to May 2004: Fireman’s Fund Insurance Company - Paralegal
Worked for Fireman’s Fund Insurance Staff Counsel offices in Rutherford and New Brunswick New
Jersey. Primary responsibilities included: Reviewed and summarized complicated medical records;
Client meetings; Internet searches; Prepared Answers to Interrogatories and other discovery requests;
Legal research; Prepared motions and briefs; Engaged in settlement negotiations; Worked in both the
Worker's Compensation and General Liability Departments.
September 2002 to April 2003: Gold, Albanese & Barletti - Paralegal
Worked under five attorneys in an insurance defense firm handling personal injury claims. Primary
responsibilities included: Reviewed and summarized complex medical records; Prepared Answers to
Interrogatories and other discovery requests, Arbitration Statements, Status Reports, and Pretrial Reports;
Managed extensive files and prepared them for trial or arbitration.
March 2000 to August 2001: Young & Perez - Paralegal
Provided per diem consulting work to a two attorney firm with a primary area of practice in Insurance
Defense of Worker's Compensation claims. Primary responsibilities included: Legal research; Reviewed
and summarized deposition transcripts, medical records, personnel files, and medical evaluation reports.
August 1999 to March 2000: Golden, Rothschild, Spagnola, Lundell & Levitt, P.C. - Paralegal
Worked in the Construction & Insurance Coverage Department on Construction Defect and Coverage
Issue cases. Primary responsibilities included: Reviewed General Liability Policies and determined if
coverage applied; Reviewed and analyzed construction Contracts and Sub-Contracts; Prepared motions
and deposition summaries; Attended document inspections; Managed high volume files; Prepared trial
notebooks and all other trial preparation.
June 1998 to February 1999: Riker, Danzig, Scherer, Hyland & Perretti, LLP - Paralegal
Worked in the Labor and Employment Department. Primary responsibilities included: Summarized
depositions; Cite checked briefs; Reviewed and prepared discovery; Produced privilege logs; Dictated
letters to adversaries and clients; Legal research on Westlaw and Lexis.
July 1996 to March 1998: Hoagland, Longo, Moran, Dunst & Doukas - Paralegal
Worked in a four attorney department in a litigation/insurance defense firm. Primary responsibilities
included: Supervised calendar matters; Reviewed and prepared files for Court appearances; Maintained
close contact with insurance adjusters, adversaries, judges, and Court officials regarding file status;
Conducted legal research.
3. SEMINARS:
October 2000 Hunterdon County Bar Association: Handling a Product Liability Case: Nuts and Bolts
Moderated by Robert J McGuirl of Westwood, NJ.
March 2001 New Jersey Institute for Continuing Legal Education: A Dialogue on Product Liability
Practice
Moderated by Robert J McGuirl of Westwood, NJ and Judge William Dreier of
Somerville, NJ.
May 2004 New Jersey Institute for Continuing Legal Education: Product Liability 2004 Extreme
Makeover
Moderated by Robert J McGuirl of Westwood, NJ and Judge William Dreier of
Somerville, NJ
January 2005 New Jersey Division of Law: § 1983 Civil Rights Seminar
