Ronald Edward Ruma

Practice Details

• Firm Information
  Position

  Of Counsel

  Firm Name

  Duane Morris LLP
• Representative Cases & Transactions
  Cases

  Representative Matters: Mass Tort/Construction Accident Litigation
  Gas Pipeline Explosion Cases. Represented design engineer of San Francisco Bay Area municipal water pipeline installation project in 20 coordinated lawsuits resulting from rupture
  catastrophic explosion of high-pressure petroleum pipeline near the project right of way, resulting in five deaths, severe personal (burn) injuries, property damage
  delay/disruption claims.
  In Re 600 California Street Crane Accident Litigation. Lead counsel for owner of tower crane that collapsed catastrophically in downtown San Francisco, spawning over 100 consolidated lawsuits involving wrongful death, personal injury, property damage
  business interruption claims, all of which were resolved on favorable terms, with recovery of defense fees from lessee's liability insurer
  recovery of contested property loss from client's first-party insurer.
  Insurance Bad Faith Litigation
  Brewster v. DPIC. Lead counsel for liability insurer of design professional in hotly contested insurance coverage/bad faith lawsuit pressed by owner/developer of residential housing project, as assignee, raising critical issue of whether a single design error spawning multiple underlying lawsuits by different homeowners at the same subdivision should be aggregated as a single claim under the design professional's series of annual claims made insurance policies or instead considered multiple claims.
  Addeigo vs. Connecticut Indemnity. Lead trial
  appellate counsel for defendant in insurance bad faith lawsuit arising from underlying personal injury litigation involving electrician injured during construction of high-rise hotel. Defense verdict, affirmed on appeal.
  Oil/Gas Production Litigation
  Quick vs. McFarl
  Energy. Lead trial counsel for defendant oil producer in personal injury lawsuit arising from injury to service contractor's employee at oil/gas production facility in Los Angeles. Defense verdict.
  Lewis vs. Chevron. Lead trial counsel for cross-defendant service contractor in employee's wrongful death lawsuit against oil company which sought express indemnity from contractor. Despite $3 million verdict in wrongful death claim against oil company, defense verdict obtained on contractual indemnity claim
  attorney's fees recovered from oil company.
  Labor
  Employment Litigation
  Kraal vs. Port of San Francisco. Lead trial counsel for municipal defendant in lawsuit involving labor-related physical assault
  retaliation claims by municipal employee following an altercation with his co-worker acting as temporary supervisor. Defense verdict for the Port.