Aranda, Ricardo Z.

John Anton, the partner in charge of the civil litigation department at Boxer & Gerson LLP, has been the lead attorney in more than 75 jury trials.  For more than 35 years, John has devoted his legal practice to exposing wrongful behavior, attaching to it the entire cost of its serious consequences, and helping his clients find justice.

Experience as a staff attorney on the California Legislature’s Senate Committee on the Judiciary suggested to John he start his litigation career.  He began in the Sacramento County Public Defender’s Office and subsequently worked for Eugene Treaster and Rodney Klein in Sacramento, and then with Jack DeMeo in Santa Rosa. While in Santa Rosa, John served as President of the Redwood Empire Trial Lawyers’ Association, on the State Bar of California’s Committee to confer with the California Medical Association, and, when this committee was “sunsetted,” on the State Bar’s Committee on the Administration of Justice.

Since coming to Boxer & Gerson LLP more than 20 years ago, John has handled hundreds of civil cases involving serious injuries suffered by those working in the trades, including operating engineers, carpenters, pile drivers, painters, plumbers, sprinkler fitters, electricians, teamsters, and laborers.

John has on multiple occasions been selected by his peers and named by San Francisco Magazine as a Northern California Super Lawyer in personal injury litigation. He has also published a number of articles in professional journals on topics ranging from third party liability for occupational hazards to seat belt issues and products liability generally to confidentiality of medical records and statute of limitations issues. He has been an invited speaker by many organizations over the years.  Before unions, attorney groups, and medical groups he has presented on tort reform; health care reform, medical malpractice, vaccine and medical device litigation, and other areas of interest.

John has represented the victims of numerous industrial accidents involving panelized roofs, cranes, power tools, conveyor belts, scaffolding, gas appliances, trenches, and more. He has also presented vehicle cases involving cars, trucks, buses, forklifts, motorcycles, bicycles, and hot rods. His professional negligence cases have included not only doctors and hospitals but also chiropractors, accountants and engineers.  Just a few case summaries illustrate the depth and breadth of his experience:

• John and co-counsel represented the families of two men killed in the Walnut Creek jet fuel line explosion in 2004. The firm recovered some $16 million for dependents after extensive discovery uncovered liability on several defendants.

• John recovered $3.1 million for the wife and family of a 33 year old painter who was killed in a scaffold collapse during a Bay Bridge retrofit in 2002. Working with a team of metallurgists and mechanical engineers, Boxer & Gerson LLP was able to garner evidence that the company that produced the scaffold has exaggerated its capabilities to get the public construction contact and failed to build the scaffold according to the design.

• John’s work on accident reconstruction and economic valuation enabled Boxer & Gerson LLP  to obtain $3 million for the family of an HVAC installer/ repairman killed in a rear end accident with another commercial vehicle.

• After a truck on a highway construction project backed into a journeyman diesel mechanic, John sued the general contractor to recover lost past and future wages and emotional distress damages. The resulting $2.25 million dollar settlement helped the mechanic and his family regain their financial security and move on with their lives.

• After a Teamster warehouseman was hit by a forklift on a loading dock, John filed suit against the warehouse owner and a product manufacturer to prove the owner’s employee was negligent in driving the forklift and that the product being transported was dangerous and defective. The union worker received a $2 million dollar settlement for his injuries.

• A jury awarded John’s condominium maintenance worker client $1.1 million dollars to compensate him for physical injuries, lost wages, and emotional distress he suffered after he fell off a ladder while replacing light fixtures on a tennis court. John demonstrated to the jury that the defective design of the light pole was responsible for the fall, because nearly 10 years earlier the light was installed without a bolt to keep it from twisting.

• John obtained a $1.05 million dollar jury award on behalf of a union electrician who suffered a badly broken wrist when he fell over an anchor bolt on a construction site at UC Berkeley. John was able to establish that the University left the premises in a dangerous condition and should have foreseen the possibility of injury.

• In another construction site case, John obtained $800K from the general contractor, for an operating engineer who fell into a poorly marked and poorly lit pit on a seismic upgrade project.

• John represented a union carpenter who suffered a severe injury when a large rebar column fell on top of him, crushing his leg. The accident was the most severe sustained during the construction of Pac Bell Park. Although Cal-OSHA initially concluded that the general contractor did nothing wrong, the firm's investigation turned up evidence that proved otherwise, and the firm reached a substantial settlement for the client.

• Boxer & Gerson LLP took the case of a union picket who suffered an injured foot when struck by a car entering the premises in dispute. The driver paid $370K for his actions.

• When a veteran steelworker was caught in 50 year old machinery and suffered permanent injuries, including the loss of one arm and serious damage to the other, John set out to prove that the manufacturer, installer and present owners’ consultants were liable for the negligence of the machinery’s manufacturer which it has acquired long ago. After lengthy discovery taking him around the country, John was able to identify and apportion fault to the successor in interest to the product manufacturer. A substantial seven figure settlement was then reached.

• Boxer & Gerson LLP brought suit on behalf of a client who became a quadriplegic after using a backyard water slide. The firm argued that the product’s design and warnings were defective and deficient and failed to guard against foreseeable injuries. A substantial confidential settlement was reached.

• A disabled veteran was driving his motorcycle in Oakland when a young lawyer suddenly turned in front of him, resulting in the loss of the rider’s left foot and other injuries. Boxer & Gerson LLP was able to establish that the lawyer, clearly at fault, was traveling on business for his firm. This resulted in a highly satisfactory settlement against both.

• A 14 year old boy riding his bicycle in Berkeley sustained significant head trauma when he hit a hole in the pavement caused by a leaking water main. The firm through extensive investigation  located witnesses who testified on the boy's behalf, which helped deliver a structured settlement guaranteeing monthly payments for the rest of the injured boy’s life.

• For more than a decade, a major waste disposal company paid eleven of its employees wages as much as $20 per hour less than the “prevailing wage” agreed upon with local government in the contract. Boxer & Gerson LLP, through extensive investigation, uncovered the full truth including a quote from a Vice-President who said, “what (the workers) don’t know won't hurt them.”  A sizable settlement followed shortly thereafter, for the contract wages lost over many years.