Ribaudo, Wendi L.

Ricardo Reyna was born in San Antonio, Texas in September 1965.  He joined the firm as an associate in 1990.  He became a shareholder in 1997 and Vice-President in 1998.

He has been recognized as a Diplomate of the American Board of Trial Advocates (a distinction held by only 29 of the 75,000 practicing lawyers in Texas). He is the youngest attorney with this distinction and the only Hispanic.

He is a fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America, a trial lawyers honorary society where membership is by invitation only based on trial accomplishments and is comprised of less than one half of 1% of all lawyers in the United States.

He has been named as one of the Best Lawyers in America by Best Lawyers, the oldest and most respected peer review publication in the United States.

He is also Board Certified in Personal Injury Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization.

He has tried one hundred and five (105) civil cases to jury verdict as lead counsel, including eleven (11) defense cases where the amount sought was in excess of $10,000,000 (obtaining an outright defense verdict in each case). 

In 2006, he was lead plaintiff's counsel in a commercial litigation case where the trial lasted six months and resulted in a jury verdict of $699,000,000 (the second largest in the United States that year). 

In 2008, he obtained a defense verdict for Ford Motor Company in a product liability death case involving the Ford F-150. The plaintiffs sued for $15 million dollars but the jury awarded $0, finding no vehicle defect.  It was the first case tried in the United States alleging a defect with the Ford F-150 for the failure to implement rollover activated air bags.

In 2010, he obtained a defense verdict for a property management company in a negligent security case where an intoxicated bar patron ran over the plaintiff, severing his leg.  The property had a prior murder and prior armed robbery.  An adjacent property operated by the Defendant had 33 aggravated assaults in the year before the subject incident.  The plaintiff sued for $12 million dollars but the jury awarded $0, finding no negligence.

Also in 2010, he obtained a defense verdict for a company whose tractor-trailer driver struck and killed a pedestrian whose vehicle had broken down and who was on the shoulder of the roadway.  The investigating officer assessed complete responsibility on the tractor-trailer driver, who admitted that he was fatigued and had only gotten four (4) hours of sleep the night before.  The plaintiffs sued for $6 million dollars but the jury awarded $0, finding the decedent 100% negligent.

In 2011, he lead the Ford Motor Company defense team to a complete defense verdict in a fatality crash involving a 15 year old passenger in a Ford Explorer. The plaintiff's claimed that Ford internal documents proved that passengers can be ejected even if wearing seat belts because the vehicle glass is not as strong as the laminated glass in windshields. The pre-trial demand was $10 million dollars, increased to $16 million dollars during trial. The jury awarded $0, finding no vehicle defect. It was the first outright defense verdict in Zavala County in 20 years.

Later in 2011, he led another trial team for Ford Motor Company to a complete defense verdict in a case where the plaintiff was run over and killed by her Ford F-150 in front of her children and grandchildren. The plaintiffs sued for $15 million dollars, alleging that the transmission system was defective because it allows vehicles to shift out of gear and into reverse on their own. The offer from Ford at trial was $0. The jury returned a zero verdict, finding no vehicle defect and finding the decedent 100% negligent.

His hobbies include hunting, fishing, adventure travel, photography, and mountain biking.  He has traveled to each of the world's seven continents, including exploring North America, touring Europe, going on safari to Africa, hiking the mountains and jungles of South America, trekking through Asia, wandering about in Australia, and joining an expedition to Antarctica.

Rick is married and has two sons.

Bar Admissions
          State Bar of Texas (1990)
          U.S. District Court Northern District of Texas
          U.S. District Court Southern District of Texas
          U.S. District Court Eastern District of Texas
          U.S. District Court Western District of Texas
          U.S. Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit
          U.S. Supreme Court

Education
          Georgetown University Law Center
          Washington, D.C.
          Doctor of Jurisprudence (1990)

          University of Texas
          Austin, Texas
          Bachelor of Arts Degree in Philosophy (1986)

Distinctions
          Diplomate of the American Board of Trial Advocates

Fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America

Recognized Member of Best Lawyers in America

          Board Certified in Personal Injury Trial Law
          Texas Board of Legal Specialization

          Fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation

          Fellow of the San Antonio Bar Foundation

Professional Associations and Memberships
          State Bar of Texas
          American Bar Association
          Hispanic National Bar Association
          Defense Research Institute
          American Inns of Court
          Texas Association of Defense Counsel
          San Antonio Bar Association
          Defense Counsel of San Antonio
          Mexican-American Bar Association of San Antonio

Languages
          Spanish