 The origins of DRYDEN, MARGOLES, SCHIMANECK & WERTZ date back to 1916. Over the course of more than 90 years, the firm has established a national civil litigation practice providing a wide range of legal services to individuals, corporations, manufacturers, insurance companies, self-insured entities, professionals and health-care providers. The firm's office is located in San Francisco from which it serves clients throughout California. The firm also represents clients before courts and administrative agencies across the nation. The firm routinely handles litigation in Nevada, Arizona, Oregon, Washington, Utah, Idaho, Colorado, Hawaii and other states. The cornerstone of the firm's success is trial experience. Civil litigation on behalf of the sophisticated client requires more than a thorough knowledge of the substantive and procedural law. The evaluation of liability and damage issues requires knowledge gained from trying lawsuits. The firm has tried cases for local and national clients in many different fields, including product liability, medical negligence, toxic torts, construction litigation, premises liability, insurance coverage and general negligence. The philosophy of the firm has always been to aggressively defend its clients and negotiate from a position of strength, knowing that the opposing side will view the option of trying the case as an unwelcome alternative to settlement. Each of the firm's partners has significant trial experience. Senior partner Robert E. Dryden has tried over 200 civil jury trials and was recognized in the Woodward, White book, The Best Lawyers in America. His experience over the last 40 years has influenced the evolution of the firm from Barfield, Barfield & Dryden to Dryden, Margoles, Schimaneck & Wertz. A new generation of lawyers at Dryden Margoles continues the tradition of quality representation. The firm provides cutting-edge legal services, while maintaining the same commitment to serve that has sustained the firm for over 90 years. The primary tool of the trial lawyer is the ability to communicate and listen effectively. The firm is dedicated to utilizing the knowledge, expertise, and experience of the client to its best advantage in each case. This is achieved by including the client on the litigation team. In addition, the firm has responded to industry requests to develop methods and procedures to reduce the costs of litigation. Several firm-wide programs have been instituted which allow our clients to control costs throughout the litigation. At each step during the litigation process, a budget can be prepared to assess the cost of defense, including discovery, legal research, motions, expert retention, and trial preparation. Frequent communication with the client insures that the client remains an integral part of the defense team and actively participates in those decisions which effect defense costs. Over the course of almost 100 years the firm has defended clients in almost every kind and variety of civil action, often as the new tort theory of recovery is emerging. For example, the firm has tried product liability cases for major automobile manufacturers for over 40 years. These cases included: post-collision fuel-fed fire cases, rollovers, tire failure, transmission inadvertent movement, and occupant restraint cases. Our experience spans the spectrum of all automotive vehicles, from motorcycles to eighteen-wheel rigs.
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