In the News

Association of Trial Lawyers Honors Bieder for Helping Clients Fight for Justice in the Courtroom

August 1, 2006

BRIDGEPORT — A national association of trial lawyers has honored prominent Bridgeport attorney Richard Bieder for his record of fighting for justice in the courtroom on behalf of those injured by the negligence and misconduct of others.

The Association of Trial Lawyers of America (ATLA) today announced that it has presented Bieder with its inaugural David S. Schrager President’s Award. The late David Schrager was Philadelphia trial lawyer and former president of ATLA.

This is Bieder’s second major award this year, having won The Connecticut Law Tribune’s annual Pro Bono Award in May.

ATLA cited Bieder for “embodying the qualities we value most in trial lawyers and dear friends — brilliant analysis, rigorous ethics, thorough preparation, nimble wit, elegance in argument, charming manner, subtlety when called for and bold directness when needed.”

“His 37 years in the ATLA family have been devoted to its members and its mission, as he has ever been willing to take on any assignment and volunteer for any job that needs doing,” ATLA President Kenneth M. Suggs, Esq. said in his presentation of the Schrager Award to Bieder.

Bieder, a partner at Koskoff, Koskoff & Bieder, P. C. is well known for his handling of individual and class action cases resulting from mass disasters, consumer rights, personal injuries, unfair trade practices and commercial fraud and misrepresentation. He has taken on and prevailed over major insurance companies, accounting firms, manufacturers and other powerful institutions. He also prosecutes and defends actions on behalf of business clients.

He represented victims in such high-profile cases as: the collapse of the L’Ambiance Plaza building in Bridgeport, Conn.; the Dupont Hotel fire in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and investors bilked by the Colonial Realty empire. He is currently advising families of individuals killed in the Oklahoma City bombing. He helped create, and is now president of, Trial Lawyers Care, a nationwide organization that aided victims of the 9-11 terrorist attacks and continues to seek ways to aid other victims of terrorism through pro bono legal work.

Bieder is listed in The Best Lawyers in America and holds a certificate as a Civil Trial Advocate from the National Board of Trial Advocacy in which he served as its president. He is a past president of the Connecticut Trial Lawyers Association and has served as a guest commentator on Court TV.

“When the odds or the vote is 99 to one, as he has noted, he is never hesitant to be the one,” Suggs said. “He is as comfortable representing the unpopular cause or client as those that tear at the heart. He sees himself, as did his mentor Ted Koskoff, as ‘a hair shirt to the smugness and complacency of society.'”

Theodore I. Koskoff founded the firm in 1936. Today, Koskoff, Koskoff and Bieder, P. C. has offices in Bridgeport and New Haven. The law firm is known for serving victims in malpractice cases, cases related to accidents, civil rights, consumer matters and commercial cases.