Rick started his career in a small town in Alaska as a lawyer with no staff, where he developed a love for studying the books and transcripts of great trial lawyers. He built his career representing the poor, the injured, and the mistreated, sharing with jurors the truth about their injuries and what caused them. His trial method is to present the truth to the jury, and to effectively counter defense tactics to distort the truth. He has developed methods for clearly showing jurors how defendants have broken the rules which protect all of us. Lawyers all over the country now ask him for help in trying their cases.

Among his landmark cases are Myrick v. Mastagni, believed to be the first case in California holding a building owner liable for personal injuries sustained in a earthquake, and Robinson v. State Farm, a case which exposed an insurance company's practice of using phony doctor's reports to deny claims. Three of his verdicts have ranked in the top ten largest verdicts in the United States.

Rick handles a variety of cases, including catastrophic personal injury, wrongful death, medical malpractice, insurance bad faith, and business torts. He is a member of the Inner Circle of Advocates, an invitation-only group that limits its membership to 100 of the leading trial lawyers in the country. He is also a member of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers.

Rick is a graduate of Harvard Law School and the author of three best selling legal books: Rules of the Road, Polarizing the Case, and Rick Friedman on Becoming a Trial Lawyer. These books have revolutionized how thousands of lawyers try their cases.

Rick is licensed to practice in Alaska, Washington and California, but also regularly appears pro hac vice in other state and federal courts around the country.  In California, Rick is of counsel to Shernoff, Bidart, Echeverria LLP, California's leading insurance bad faith law firm.