Richard K Masterson--Retired

Mr. Masterson is Counsel to the Firm. He was admitted to the Pennsylvania Bar in 1959, following his graduation from Villanova University School of Law in 1958. After his service as an Assistant City Solicitor for the City of Philadelphia, he entered private practice in 1963, first in Delaware County and then with the Montgomery County firm of Waters, Fleer, Cooper & Gallager in Norristown – the predecessor of the Masterson Braunfeld firm. He has served the Montgomery Bar Association in numerous capacities, including Director, Officer, member of the Judiciary Committee and as President in 1997. He has also served as the Zone 9 representative to the Pennsylvania Bar Association’s House of Delegates. 

Mr. Masterson was for many years the partner in charge of the firm's litigation work, and, both as administrator and as litigator, he was substantially involved as counsel to numerous casualty insurance companies in the areas of medical malpractice, general liability, pro¬ducts liability, and professional liability. His abilities have been rated "AV" by Martindale-Hubbell, Inc.

He has over thirty years’ experience defending Doctors and Hospitals in medical malpractice cases and has lectured at one of Philadelphia’s leading medical schools. Additionally, he has obtained several seven figure verdicts and/or settlements on behalf of injured parties.

He has represented an international engineering consulting firm in major professional liability litigation in Federal Court in Baltimore, Maryland; has represented several corporations in claims involving substantial potential excess liability in actions in the Federal Court in Philadelphia, and has been responsible for establishing significant case precedent in the representation of a creditor in a major bankruptcy matter in the Federal Court in Philadelphia. He has also represented a prestigious University in litigation in Philadelphia involving the alleged misappropriation of an architectural concept, and a national law firm in the defense of a claim for professional liability by its former client. He has also represented lawyers and law firms in dissolution litigation. He has successfully defended a chemical distributor in a major chemical environmental class action and has represented a class action plaintiff in a Federal Court securities class action.

Mr. Masterson represented one of the major insurance carriers in the asbestosis litigation in Philadelphia involving the interpretation of that carrier's CGL Policy as applied to asbestosis claims. He has been special counsel to an excess liability carrier for a local hospital. He has also served as special products liability counsel for one of the area's major commercial and products industrial manufacturers representing that manufacturer in major litigation on a national basis. He has represented a major insurer of hospitals in several multi-million dollar disputes involving staff privileges, admissions, and credentialing. Additionally, Mr. Masterson has had broad experience in toxic and environmental claims, representing the City of Philadelphia in air pollution claims as an Assistant City Solicitor; a major chemical distributor in various toxic chemical spill cases including super fund clean up litigation; various manufacturers in asbestos claims; a major health care provider in a radiation claim and a manufacturer of sewage treatment equipment in various claims.