Frank D. Russo has resolved more than 10,000 cases over the course of his career, a good number of them in his specialty areas of workers’ comp, civil litigation, employment disputes and personal injury law. Prior to his association with Boxer & Gerson, he founded and managed a successful law firm, has served as an expert witness, and lectured and written on legal matters. He has also played key policymaking roles in California governance, having written major legislation in the State Capitol, served as chief of staff to the chair of the Assembly Rules Committee, and as legal counsel to the Speaker of the California Assembly. All of this has provided him with a profound understanding of the law and the political process that has such an impact in shaping it.
As a certified workers’ compensation specialist, Frank has successfully advocated for injured workers from all walks of life. An arbitration panel member with the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board, he was certified as a workers’ compensation specialist by the State Bar of California in 1985 and served as a workers’ compensation Judge Pro Tem as far back as 1982. In 1997, he was selected by his colleagues as president of the California Applicants’ Attorneys Association. In that capacity and others, he has lectured to hundreds of attorneys, judges, and other professionals, and served as the instructor for a comprehensive law school level class on workers’ compensation. He also authored a chapter in the Continuing Education of the Bar textbook: California Workers’ Compensation Practice.
After graduating with honors from Yale University in 1973 and receiving his law degree from Boalt Hall at University of California, Berkeley, Frank completed his comprehensive mediation training and coursework through Steven Rosenberg’s professional program. He is a member of the Alameda County Bar Association Alternate Dispute (ADR) Section, and also serves as a mediator and arbitrator for the Basic Crafts Workers’ Compensation Program.
Frank has built his reputation on his extensive experience handling complicated and difficult cases and his skill in resolving thorny disputes, whether legal, political, or those based upon philosophical differences or raw emotions. He has been recognized as a natural mediator by his colleagues, and is well-regarded by lawyers who have opposed him in court, as well as those with whom he has negotiated outside of the courtroom. In the State Capitol in Sacramento, he brought disparate interests together in complex negotiations on legislation and the California budget, earning him a reputation as a consummate “peacemaker.”
Areas of Practice
- Workers Compensation
- Mediation
- Arbitration
- Discovery Referee
- Special Master
- Expert Witness
- Litigation Consulting
- Mini-Trials
- Private Judging
- Government Relations & Lobbying
- Legislative Practice
- State & Municipal Employees
- Workers’ Compensation Appeals
Published Works
- Chapter 10, “Representing Injured Workers,” California Workers’ Compensation Practice, Continuing Education of the Bar-California, Fourth Edition, 2000
- Existing and Proposed International Action on Their Rights, 15 Review of the International Commission of Jurists 51, 1975
- A Study of Bias In Television Coverage of the Vietnam War, 35 Public Opinion Quarterly 539, 1971
Classes/Seminars
- Speaker, “Post Election Analysis,” Commonwealth Club, November, 2008 – Present
- Speaker, Summit on California Workers’ Compensation Permanent Disability, California Commission on Health and Safety and Workers’ Compensation, 1997 – Present
- Instructor, California Applicants’ Attorneys Association, Workers’ Compensation Law Course, “A Comprehensive Law School Level Class Covering All Issues Pertaining to Workers’ Compensation” at Boalt Hall, 2002 – Present
- Instructor, California Applicants’ Attorneys Association, Workers’ Compensation Law Course, Santa Clara University School of Law, 2003 – Present
- Instructor, California Applicants’ Attorneys Association, Workers’ Compensation Law Course, Oakland, 2004 – Present
- Lecturer, Lawworm.com Seminar on Workers’ Compensation Reform, 2004 – Present
- Lecturer, Apportionment Under the New Law, California Applicants’ Attorneys Association Convention, 2004 – Present
- Faculty, Return-To-Work Issues Under California Disability Law: Workers’ Compensation and FEHA, Lorman Education Services, 2003 – Present
- Lecturer, Brain Injuries, California Applicants’ Attorneys Convention, 2003 – Present
- Trainer, Workers’ Compensation Navigators, UC Berkeley Labor and Occupational Health Program, Alameda County Central Labor Council, 2003 – Present
- Lecturer, Legislative Update, Disability Management Employer Coalition, 2003 – Present
- Lecturer, Permanent and Stationary: How Is It Determined?, California Applicants’ Attorneys Convention, 2002 – Present
- Speaker, Burn Injuries, California Applicants’ Attorneys Association convention, 2001 – Present
- Speaker, Burn Injuries, California Applicants’ Attorneys Association convention
- Lecturer, Paralegal-Secretarial Seminar, California Applicants’ Attorneys Association, 1992 – Present
- Lecturer, Paralegal-Secretarial Seminar, California Applicants’ Attorneys Association, 1994 – Present
- Lecturer, California Applicants’ Attorneys Association Rehabilitation Seminar, 1995 – Present
- Lecturer, American Academy of Disability Evaluation Physicians, 1995 – Present
- Presenter, General Practitioner, Alameda County Bar Association Workers’ Compensation Course, 1994 – 2016
- Speaker, Roles of Attorneys and Physicians in Workers’ Compensation Cases Including 1994 “Reforms”, 1994 – Present
- Program Speaker, Workers’ Compensation Update, Council on Education in Management, 1993 – Present
- Lecturer, Advanced Workers’ Compensation Seminar, National Business Institute, 1993 – Present
- An Applicant’s Attorney Speaks Out: How I Decide To Accept, Or Refuse, A Workers’ Compensation Case, Council on Education and Management, 1993 – Present
- Speaker, Legislative Panel, California Applicants’ Attorneys Association Convention, 1988 – Present
Honors and Awards
- “Best Lawyers in America” 1999 – 2005
- Law & Politics and San Francisco Magazine, Northern California “Super Lawyers,” 2004 – Present
Pro Bono Activities
- Board Member, Neighborhood Law Corps Foundation, Oakland, California, 2005 – 2008
- Executive Committee Member, Alameda County Bar Association Lawyer Referral Service, 1992 – 1996
- Judge, Pro Tem, Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board, State of California, 1982
- Judge, Pro Tem, Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board, State of California, 2002 – 2004
- Member, Commission on Health and Safety and Workers’ Compensation, Project Advisory Committee, on Return to Work in Sustained Employment, 2000
- Project Participant, Navigating the Workers’ Compensation System, Labor and Occupational Health Program, U.C. Berkeley, 1996
- Advisory Committee Member, California Health, Safety and Workers’ Compensation Commission, Project to Design and Test Educational Materials, 1996
- Testimony and Written Presentation on Proposed Amendments to Schedule For Rating Permanent Disabilities, California Department of Industrial Relations, Hearing on Proposed Rulemaking, 1997
- Testimony and Written Presentation on Proposed Amendments to Audit Unit Regulations, California Department of Industrial Relations, Hearing on Proposed Rulemaking, 1997
- California, 1976
- U.S. District Court Southern District of California, 1976
- Boalt Hall School of Law, University of California, Berkeley, California
- Law Journal: Industrial Relations Law Journal, 1975
- Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut
- Basic Crafts Workers’ Compensation Program, Mediator and Arbitrator, 2011 – Present
- Compensation Mediation and Arbitration Services, Member, 2008 – 2011
- Alameda County Bar Association, Member, Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Committee, 2008 – 2011
- California Applicants’ Attorneys Association, President, 1997 – 1998
- California Applicants’ Attorneys Association, Board of Governor’s Member and Legislation Committee, 1992 – 2006
- California Applicants’ Attorneys Association, Administrative Regulation Committee Chair, 1992 – 1995