Rich Orton is an attorney in the firm of Gass Weber Mullins LLC who represents individuals, businesses and insurers in federal, state and administrative forums throughout the United States. Rich concentrates his practice in the areas of products liability, general tort liability, construction litigation, professional liability, subrogation, and insurance and other commercial disputes. These claims typically involve a myriad of damages related to personal injuries, property damages, and other commercial or business losses.
Rich has represented a variety of commercial and manufacturing clients in products liability litigation, from local retailers to large multinational OEMs. He is part of the national trial counsel team for one of the world’s leading manufacturers of compact farming and construction equipment. This experience has included defending consumer, commercial and industrial products in a variety of industries, such as construction, agribusiness, heavy equipment, trucking and transportation. In addition to his litigation work, Rich also counsels companies on product liability, product safety, risk assessment, and claims management issues.
Rich regularly handles matters at all stages of their lifespan – from the prompt investigation of accidents and evidence preservation, through pre-suit negotiations, discovery, trial and appeal. Rich assists clients in developing and executing the most efficient and effective strategies in all phases of dispute resolution. He has experience handling some of the most complex claims, involving catastrophic injuries, fire and explosion accidents, and massive property damages.
Since 2017, he has served as a member of the Board of Directors of Wisconsin Lawyers Mutual Insurance Company. Rich has also served on the Board of the State Bar of Wisconsin’s Young Lawyers Division since 2014, and on various committees of the Eastern District of Wisconsin Bar Association since 2012.
During law school at the University of Wisconsin, Rich was a member of the Moot Court Board and Mock Trial Team. He won the Ruby R. Vale National Corporate Law Moot Court Competition’s best brief award, and worked as a law clerk for the Wisconsin Governor’s Office of Legal Counsel. Prior to law school he worked as a paralegal at a large multinational law firm in Washington, D.C., splitting time between the firm’s corporate and securities group and the white collar and regulatory enforcement group. During his undergraduate years at Marquette, he spent his summers working in Washington D.C., once for a member of the U.S. House of Representatives and once for a national trade association for the high-tech industry. Rich also spent two terms studying law and public policy at the University of Oxford in England.
Mr. Orton was born and raised in Mauston, Wisconsin.