Richard J. Collier

Partner
San Francisco Office
rcollier@cwclaw.com
(415) 433-1900
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In his thirty years as a trial lawyer, Mr. Collier has concentrated on cases involving fiduciary duty issues - partnership, unfair competition and trade secrets, insurance coverage, and professional liability disputes. For the past twelve years, Mr. Collier has focused on those issues in trust and probate litigation. He has represented beneficiaries and trustees, both individual and institutional, in removal and surcharge proceedings, cases involving interpretation and modification of trusts, including charitable trusts, and will and trust contests. Mr. Collier is also an experienced mediator and arbitrator who serves on the panels of neutrals with the American Arbitration Association, the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, the First District Court of Appeal, and Bay Area Superior Courts.

Mr. Collier presently serves on the Board of Directors of the California Dispute Resolution Council and on the Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee of the San Francisco Superior Court.  He is immediate Past President of The Mediation Society of San Francisco and co-chair of the Mediation Committee of the Bar Association of San Francisco.

Mr. Collier graduated with First Class Honours from Edinburgh University, Scotland, and earned his Ph.D. degree from Washington University, St. Louis. From 1969 to 1976, he was an Assistant Professor in the English Department at the University of California, Berkeley, where he received a Distinguished Teaching Award. Mr. Collier received his J.D. degree from Boalt Hall School of Law at the University of California, Berkeley, in 1979.