Behrle, Clare R.

Over the last 20 years, Rich Bedell has developed a practice that focuses on litigation involving structural and mechanical failures, primarily in the areas of construction and aviation. Rich has developed extensive experience working with experts in the fields of metallurgy, structural engineering, seismology, aerospace engineering, crane design and operation, ceramics, and treatment plant design. Rich has tried several of these cases to a successful verdict.

Rich represented The Lincoln Electric Company in a series of cases involving connection damage to steel-frame buildings resulting from the Northridge earthquake. He was part of the trial team that obtained a defense verdict for Lincoln in a case involving the Westside Towers in Santa Monica. Rich also tried a subsequent case involving the Trident Center building, obtaining a favorable verdict on product identification. Other significant construction-related representations include a commercial dispute involving a wastewater treatment plant and an OSHA investigation involving the collapse of a million pound, self-launching crane used to construct the Interstate 280 bridge over Maumee Bay in Toledo, Ohio. Representing the crane manufacturer, Rich was able to defeat claims that the crane design and materials were inadequate, which allowed OSHA to conclude that the contractor was at fault for failing to operate the crane in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions.

Rich also has extensive experience in the aviation field. He represented Lycoming Engines when it was forced to replace thousands of crankshafts in its reciprocating piston aircraft engines. Rich was a principal member of the trial team in the litigation against the company that forged the crankshafts. The six-week trial was heavily weighted towards expert testimony involving the design and manufacture of the crankshafts. Rich has handled numerous ancillary matters relating to Lycoming's crankshaft issues, including a month-long arbitration of a commercial dispute with an airframe manufacturer and several consumer class action lawsuits. In 2006, he published "A Fresh Look at Federal Preemption in the Context of Aviation," which appeared in CCH Issues in Aviation Law and Policy, and presented on the subject at the DRI Product Liability Conference in February 2006.

Rich's ability to handle complex technical issues has enabled him to represent major space and defense contractors, a supplier of component parts for electrical distribution grids (product liability and warranty), and tire manufacturers (insurance coverage for environmental contamination and class actions involving consumer fraud allegations) in a variety of state and federal forums.

Prior to attending law school, Rich spent time designing steam generators for the U.S. Navy's nuclear submarine program and conducting research for the National Science Foundation. He is a member of the Ohio State Bar Association and the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association.