Position: Partner
Practice Areas:
- Plaintiff’s Personal Injury
- Trucking & Bus Litigation
- Insurance Lawsuits
Contact
Address:
Cross Creek Pointe
1065 Highway 315, Suite 200
Wilkes-Barre, PA 18702
PH: 570-826-5650
FX: 570-826-5640
Email
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Assistant’s Name: Darlene A. Ashton
Email Assistant
For more than 35 years, individuals around the state who have been injured through the fault of another, or who are involved in disputes with insurance companies, have looked to Attorney Richard A. Russo for help in getting full compensation for their injuries.
Mr. Russo provides aggressive, yet compassionate, legal help for people who have been injured in many different types of cases. His cases frequently involve injuries suffered by motorists or pedestrians in truck crashes; car, motorcycle and bus accidents; injuries caused by drunk drivers; injuries caused by landowner neglect; defective or dangerous products, and chiropractic or medical injury claims. The cases are often tragic, involving wrongful death or traumatic injuries, including brain, spinal cord, neck or back injuries, scarring, burns or RSD. He also had the privilege of representing superstar singer Gloria Estefan, Grammy Award Producer Emilio Estefan, and their son Nayib Estefan, when they were injured in a bus crush when their tour bus was hit by a tractor trailer on Interstate 380 in the Poconos. Clients come to him for his tenaciousness, his trial skills and tireless energy in seeking to make them whole from their injury.
Rick also handles claims against insurance companies who have acted in bad faith towards their insureds. Attorney Russo is a past President of the Northeast Pennsylvania Trial Lawyers Association and the Committee for Justice for All, and currently serves on the Board of the Kevin Kitchnefsky Foundation for Spinal Cord Research. He is a magna cum laude graduate of Wilkes University and a cum laude graduate of Temple University Law School.
Mr. Russo has been repeatedly recognized by The Best Lawyers in America© for his representation of accident victims. Rick is also recognized as a Pennsylvania Super Lawyer.
Representative Matters
- Successfully represented singer, Gloria Estefan, her husband, Emilio Estefan, Jr., and their son, Nayib, for injuries they suffered when their tour bus was hit by a tractor-trailer. The settlement amount is confidential.
- Confidential settlement and accompanying verdict for the death of a Susquehanna County woman who died due to her doctors’ failure to diagnose a brain aneurysm.
- $7.45 Million recovery for a Tunkhannock man who suffered a spinal cord injury and quadriplegia in a work place accident.
- $5.25 million recovery for a Kingston teen, who suffered a brain injury in a car accident, involving an insurance dispute with his underinsurance company.
- $3.0 Million settlement during the trial of a tractor- trailer crash that seriously injured an elderly retired Luzerne County woman.
- $2.5 Million recovery for fatal injuries suffered by a Senior Citizen in a motor vehicle crash in Luzerne County.
- $2.0 Million recovery for a claim for bad faith against an insurance company.
- Confidential settlement for the parents of a Scranton toddler who died when his physician failed to diagnose pneumonia.
- $1.0 Million recovery for a Montrose couple whose car was hit by a truck in Florida.
- $1.0 Million for a Wyoming County man who suffered traumatic head injuries in a car accident.
- $925,000 recovery for arm injuries to a security guard who was injured by a tractor trailer.
- $750,000 recovery for a Nanticoke teenager injured on an Interstate highway by a tractor trailer.
- $675,000 settlement for a Plains Township man who was injured in a tractor trailer accident.
- $600,000 settlement for the estate of a Lackawanna County man who committed suicide after being injured in a car accident. The court recognized that this was a case of first impression in Pennsylvania.
- $570,000 recovery for a Schuylkill County man who suffered a traumatic brain injury in a motorcycle accident.
- More than $400,000 for a motorist who was injured due to a tractor trailer driver’s negligent lane change on an interstate highway.
- $400,000 recovered for a Pittston woman who suffered RSD as a result of a car accident.
- $225,000 settlement for two Monroe County children injured by a drunk driver.
Education
Wilkes University (B.A., magna cum laude, 1977)
Temple University School of Law (J.D., cum laude, 1980)
Bar Admissions
- Pennsylvania
- United States Supreme Court
- United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
- United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania
Presentations/Publications
- Gloria Estefan Accident (New York Times)
- Baseball, Father of 3 a Quadriplegic
- $5 Million recovery for Brain Injury
- $600,000 Settlement in Mackin Suicide Case
- Auto Law: Instructor at the 16th Annual Auto Law Update program offered by the Pennsylvania Bar Institute in November 2009
- Civil Litigation Program speaker at numerous Wilkes-Barre Law & Library Association’s Bench-Bar Conferences regarding Tractor Trailer Accidents, Motor Vehicle crashes and Bad Faith Insurance Litigation
- Speaker at Trial Advocacy Programs and Trial “Boot Camp” programs presented to Northeastern Pennsylvania attorneys regarding trial practices and trial advocacy.
Honors
Selected as a 2021 Super Lawyer in the field of Personal Injury
Selected as a 2020 Super Lawyer in the field of Personal Injury
Selected as a 2019 Super Lawyer in the field of Personal Injury
Selected as a 2018 Super Lawyer in the field of Personal Injury
Listed in “The Best Lawyers in America” (26th Edition) in the field of Personal Injury Litigation – Plaintiffs (2020)
Listed in “The Best Lawyers in America” (25th Edition) in the field of Personal Injury Litigation – Plaintiffs (2019)
Listed in “The Best Lawyers in America” (24th Edition) in the field of Personal Injury Litigation – Plaintiffs (2018)
Listed in “The Best Lawyers in America” (23rd Edition) in the field of Personal Injury Litigation – Plaintiffs (2017)
Listed in “The Best Lawyers in America” (22nd Edition) in the field of Personal Injury Litigation – Plaintiffs (2016)
Listed in “The Best Lawyers in America” (21st Edition) in the field of Personal Injury Litigation – Plaintiffs (2015)
Listed in “Top Lawyers of Pennsylvania” in the field of Insurance Law (2013, 2014)
Member — Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum
Member — Million Dollar Advocates Forum
AV® Peer Review Rating by Martindale Hubbell — This rating attests to a lawyer’s legal ability and professional ethics, and reflects the confidential opinions of members of the Bar and Judiciary. The AV® rating is a testament to the fact that a lawyer’s peers rank him at the highest level of professional excellence for those practicing law for more than 10 years.
Professional Community Activities
- American Association for Justice — Stalwart member
- AAJ — Interstate Trucking Litigation Group
- Pennsylvania Association for Justice
- American Bar Association
- Pennsylvania Bar Association
- Luzerne County Bar Association (Wilkes-Barre Law & Library Association) — Member of Bench-Bar Committee
- Northeastern Pennsylvania Trial Lawyers Association — Past President
- Committee for Justice for All — Past President
- Kevin Kitchnefsky Foundation for Spinal Cord Research — Board Member
Personal Interests
- Philadelphia Phillies & Eagles Fan
- Wines
- Traveling
Reviews
“We were clients of Atty. Richard Russo, and we were treated by him and his staff with compassion, kindness, and with respect. Attorney Russo took my husband and I by the hand and led us through the unfamiliar experience of needing a lawyer, neither of us had never had the experience. We highly recommend Attorney Russo and the staff at Rosenn Jenkins & Greenwald. They worked hard to have us as satisfied clients.” -Client Review on Facebook