Kihei, HI

Richard K. Bridgford

Founding Partner of Bridgford, Gleason & Artinian. He has represented close to 12,000 wildfire victims, handled mass tort cases, class actions, and various civil litigation matters. He graduated from Stanford Law School in 1985.

James P. Frantz

Mr. Frantz’s 45 years of legal experience includes litigating catastrophic injury claims, tractor-trailer collisions, amusement park accidents, product liability, motorcycle, and automobile collisions, aviation accidents, fire and explosion-related injuries and wrongful death claims, mass transit accidents, construction accidents, industrial accidents, complex business disputes, class actions, and mass torts. Mr. Frantz served on the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee for the Porter Ranch Gas Leak litigation (one of the largest mass tort litigation in U.S. history), as well as the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee in the wildfire litigation against Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) and Southern California Edison (SCE). He is a cum laude graduate of the University of California at Santa Barbara and a graduate of Thomas Jefferson School of Law. He represented the San Diego County Bar Association as a Delegate to the State Bar of California and has served as a Special Master for the State Bar of California for the past 30 years. He has also been an Arbitrator for 30 years. He is a Master of the William B. Enright Chapter of the American Inns of Court. He is a Fellow and Associate of the prestigious American Board of Trial Advocates and is AV rated by Martindale-Hubbell.

Jay Stuemke

Since graduating law school, Jay has zealously advocated for plaintiffs’ rights all across the country. For over 25 years he has successfully litigated cases against some of the largest and most sophisticated corporations in the world on behalf of his clients. Jay specializes in trying cases involving products liability, toxic workplace and environmental exposures, wrongful death, and gross negligence. He has achieved multiple jury verdicts that have been recognized as among the highest in the state in which they were tried and the nation. Jay believes passionately in using the law to advance public safety, and has been at the forefront of efforts to expose hidden dangers in consumer products - and to hold wrongdoers accountable. Currently, his efforts to promote safety among visitors to Hawai’i have received international media attention. Jay has been featured in USA Today, News Nation, Fox News, The Independent (UK), the New York Post, Business Insider, and other mass-media outlets, in legal magazines including Texas Lawyer, appeared as a legal commentator on television, and repeatedly been an invited speaker and panelist at professional conferences. In addition, he often partners with other firms to help bring their cases to trial and successful resolution.

Jodi L. Frantz

Jodi Frantz, born in Boulder, Colorado, and raised in Fort Collins, Colorado, was admitted to the California State Bar in 1987 and the Colorado State Bar in 1997. She practices civil litigation with extensive experience in personal injury/wrongful death, product liability, insurance, business, and construction litigation. She has provided legal commentary for CNN and local television and has been a television reporter. She is President and Founder of LEGALSENSE, INC., a jury and trial consulting firm, known for her preeminent reputation in trial advocacy and jury selection. Her practice areas include wildfire litigation, personal injury, mass torts/class actions, and jury consulting. She earned her Juris Doctor from Willamette University College of Law in 1987 and a Bachelor of Science in Psychology with a minor in Criminal Justice from Colorado State University in 1984. She is a recipient of two American Juris Prudence Awards for Excellence and the Outstanding Trial Lawyer Award in 1994.

Brian E. Sutter

Mr. Sutter practices in all areas of civil litigation, including personal injury, wrongful death, construction defect, and mass tort cases throughout California and Hawaii. He represents fire survivors from various wildfires and Orange County homeowners in class action construction defect claims.

John S. Gleason

Mr. Gleason has extensive experience as a trial and appellate lawyer, including successfully arguing the landmark appellate decision Furla v. Jon Douglas Co. (1998). He specializes in complex litigation, real estate law, and business litigation.

Ed Chapin

Ed Chapin is an accomplished trial lawyer with upwards of 100 cases tried in federal and state courts. He was lead counsel in the GirlsDoPorn.com civil lawsuit, securing a $20 million plus award and earning his former firm the National Law Journal’s 2021 award for best Human Rights Firm. He also obtained a $5.4 million jury verdict for Beth Burns in a Title IX violation case against SDSU. Previously, he was lead counsel for a chemical manufacturer in the toxic tort litigation featured in 'The Erin Brockovich Story'. Ed received his J.D. from the University of Missouri School of Law and his B.S. from Southwest Missouri State University. He served in the United States Army infantry, including a 12-month tour in Vietnam, where he was awarded three Bronze Stars. He has received numerous professional awards, including the Daniel T. Broderick Award and the Lifetime Achievement award from the San Diego Defense Lawyers. He has been named one of the prestigious Best Lawyers in America every year since 1989 and earned a Super Lawyers ranking every year since 2007. He was recognized as one of the Top 50 San Diego Super Lawyers for 2008, 2009, 2015, 2017-2018. He served as president of the San Diego Chapter and the statewide California Chapters of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA) and was on the ABOTA National Board of Directors for over 20 years.