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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.”
Published Works
