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Jason Richards

Current Cases

R. Jason Richards

Partner

Jason Richards, a shareholder with the firm, practices pharmaceutical liability, products liability, and class action litigation. He has been with AWKO since 2004. Prior to joining the firm, he served as a Deputy District Attorney in Colorado where he was lead prosecutor in numerous felony and misdemeanor trials.

Jason is AV® Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell, the organization’s highest rating for legal ability and professional ethics. He has been selected as a Fellow in the Litigation Counsel of America™, an invitation-only honorary society that represents less than one-half of one percent of American lawyers. He also has been recognized as one of the Best Lawyers® in America in the areas of Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions, named one of the “Top 100” Civil Trial Lawyers in the State of Florida by the National Trial Lawyers, and previously named a Rising Start by Super Lawyers® Magazine.

Jason is a frequent author and speaker on legal issues. He has spoken at national legal conferences, law schools and colleges, and has taught CLE seminars to other attorneys on various legal subjects. In addition, he has published over two dozen law review/journal articles that have been cited in over a dozen opinions issued by federal circuit and district courts and state supreme and appellate courts.

Jason presently serves as Co-Lead Class Counsel in several consumer actions involving benzene contamination, including cases against manufacturers L’Oreal, Johnson & Johnson, and Church & Dwight Company. He is also a member of the plaintiffs’ law and briefing committee in the In re Phenylephrine Marketing and Sales Practices Litigation (MDL 3089), pending in the Eastern District of New York. Jason’s previous appointments include serving on the Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee in the Levaquin/Avelox fluoroquinolone antibiotic litigation (MDL 2642), serving on the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee in the Effexor birth defect litigation (MDL 2458), and serving as Lead Class Counsel in a certified class action involving the unlawful assessment of hospital liens in Florida.

Jason also taught for several years as an Adjunct Professor at the University of West Florida, where he received the UWF Outstanding Community Partner Award and served on the UWF Legal Studies Advisory Board. He is also the former Chair of the Florida Bar Journal’s Editorial Board, serving as an appointed member from 2012-2018.

 

Jason received an LL.M. from DePaul University College of Law, a J.D. from the University of Illinois-Chicago School of Law, a M.A. from the University of Colorado, and a B.A. (economics) and B.A. (political science) from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He is admitted to practice in Florida and Colorado, before the United States Supreme Court, and in numerous other federal courts.

 

Selected Presentations

Co-presenter, “Benzoyl Peroxide (BPO) Marketing, Sales Practices and Products Liability Litigation—MDL 3120,” HarrisMartin’s MDL Conference (2024)

Co-presenter, “Neutrogena Sunscreen Litigation,” HarrisMartin’s Webinar Series (2021)

Guest Lecturer, “Civil Procedure,” University of West Florida (2021)

Co-presenter, “Zantac: Key Considerations for Consolidation.” HarrisMartin MDL Conference (Tampa), 2020.

Invited Speaker, HarrisMartin’s Zantac Litigation Conference (Miami), 2020.

Co-presenter, “Zantac – The Cancer Within,” CAMG Webinar, 2019.

Co-presenter, “The Decade-Long Deception: FLQs and the Risks of Permanent Peripheral Neuropathy,” CAMG Webinar, 2016.

Presenter, “Litigation Update: Fluoroquinolones,” HarrisMartin’s MDL Conference, 2015.

Presenter, “Litigation Update: Fluoroquinolones,” HarrisMartin’s MDL Conference, 2014.

Presenter, “Status of Litigation & Potential Venues,” AAJ’s Fluoroquinolone Webinar, 2014.

Presenter, “Legal Ethics: Solutions to the Most Common Challenges,” National Business Institute, 2013.

Co-Presenter, “Birth Defects: Zoloft and other SSRI Drugs – The State of the Litigation,” 2012.

Presenter, “Find it Fast and Free on the Net: Strategies for Legal Research on the Web,” National Business Institute, 2010.

Selected Reported Cases   

Baptist Hospital, Inc. v. Baker, et al., 84 So.3d 1200 (Fla. 1st DCA 2012)

In re Viagra Prods. Liab. Litig., 658 F.Supp.2d 1298 (D. Minn. 2009).

In re People v. Cardenas, 62 P.3d 621 (Colo. 2002).

Areas of Practice

Education

  • University of Alabama, 1993, Bachelor of Arts in Political Science
  • University of Alabama, 1994, Bachelor of Arts in Economics
  • University of Illinois-Chicago School of Law, 1998, Juris Doctorate
  • Depaul University College of Law, 1999, Master of Laws
  • University of Colorado, 2006, Masters in U.S. History

Bar Admissions

  • Florida
  • Colorado
  • United States Supreme Court
  • United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
  • United States District Court, Northern, Middle, and Southern Districts of Florida
  • United States District Court, District of Colorado
  • United States District Court, Eastern District of Wisconsin

Professional Associations

  • Escambia-Santa Rosa County Bar Association, American Association of Justice, and Florida Justice Association

Awards & Recognitions

  • Fellow, Litigation Counsel of America™
  • AV® Preeminent Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell (2013 – Present)
  • Best Lawyers® in America, Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions (2023 – Present)
  • National Trial Lawyers, Top 100 Civil Trial Lawyers in the State of Florida (2013 – Present)
  • Super Lawyers® Magazine, Florida Rising Star (2009)

Publications

  • The Enduring Problem of Erie Guesses, 57 Trial 34 (2021)
  • The Fallacy of Statistical Significance Under “Daubert,” New Jersey Law Journal, May 5, 2021
  • “Third Circuit Uses Recent Guidance in ‘Merck’ to Reinstate Drug Claims,” New Jersey Law Journal, February 27, 2020.
  • “Can Fluoroquinolones Cause Peripheral Neuropathy? The Drugs’ Manufacturers Say ‘Yes.’” Letter to Editor. Open Access J Neuro Neurosurg. 2017; 6(3).
  • “Reflecting on Hill’s Original Causation Factors,” 52 Trial 45 (2016).
  • “We, the Class: What the Founding Generation Can Tell Us About Adequate Representation in Class Action Litigation,” 48 Suffolk U. L. Rev. 769 (2015) (co-author) (lead article).
  • “A Primer on the Origins and Implications of the Thomas Becket Affair,” 1 Lincoln Mem’l U. L. Rev. 145 (2014).
  • “Capping Non-Economic Medical Malpractice Damages: How the Florida Supreme Court Should Decide the Issue,” 42 Stetson L. Rev. 113 (2012).
  • “The Politics of Extradition in Post-War Holland,” 15 Touro Int’l L. Rev. 122 (2012).
  • “Cheap Meat: How Factory Farming is Harming our Health, the Environment, and the Economy,” 4 Ky. J. Equine, Agric. & Nat. Resources L. 31 (2012) (co-author).
  • “Common Practice Makes Bad Law,” Chi. Daily L. Bull., April 26, 2011.
  • “Answering Discovery ‘Subject To’ Objections: Lessons From Florida’s District Courts,” 35 S. Ill. U. L.J. 127 (2010).
  • “The National Flood Insurance Program: A ‘Flood’ of Controversy,” 82 Florida B.J. 9 (2008).
  • “Courting Wikipedia,” 44 Trial 62 (2008).
  • “How We Got Where We Are: A Look at Informed Consent in Colorado-Past, Present and Future,” 26 N Ill. U. L. Rev. 69 (2005).
  • “Florida’s ‘Valued Policy Law:’ Clarifying Some Recent Misconceptions,” 79 Fla. B.J. 18 (2005).
  • “Reasonable Doubt: An Overview and Examination of Jury Instructions in Colorado,” 33 Colo. Law. 85 (2004).
  • “Using Anonymous Tips to Establish Reasonable Suspicion for a Stop,” 32 Colo. Law. 61 (2003).
  • “Colorado’s Government Electronic Transactions Act and the Future of E-Commerce,” 29 Colo. Law. 4 (2000).
  • “Disabilities in Notary Law and Practice,” 32 J. Marshall L. Rev. 1033 (1999).
  • “The Utah Digital Signature Act as ‘Model’ Legislation: A Critical Analysis,” 17 J. Marshall J. Computer & Info. L. 873 (1999).
  • “Stop! … Go Directly to Jail, Do Not Pass Go, and Do Not Ask for a Notary,” 31 J. Marshall L. Rev. 879 (1998).
  • “Richards v. Jefferson County: The Supreme Court Stems the Crimson Tide of Res Judicata,” 38 Santa Clara L. Rev. 691 (1998).
  • “Cyberbusiness Needs Supernotaries,” Nat’l L. J., August 25, 1997, at A19 (co-author).
  • “Notaries Public-Lost in Cyberspace, Or Key Business Professionals of the Future?” 15 J. Marshall J. Computer & Info. L. 703 (1997) (co-author).

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