Rick J. Rutman

Rick J. Rutman is a founding member of POPICK & RUTMAN who is an experienced trial attorney, focused on cases involving workers injured during construction.

Mr. Rutman has obtained impressive trial results with several verdicts in excess of $1 million each. This exemplifies his meticulous approach and dedication to the preparation of each individual case.

Rick was born and raised in Brooklyn New York. He attended New York City public schools, including the specialized school, Brooklyn Technical High School.  The saying that you can take a person out of Brooklyn but you cannot take Brooklyn out of the person applies to Rick.  Rick grew up with and went to school with a great diversity of individuals.

This background helps him with jury selection.  Mr. Rutman has excellent instincts for picking juries.  It also assists with making his clients comfortable in knowing their legal rights.  The role of a good lawyer is to educate his/her client about the law and to help prepare the client to testify for trials and depositions.  Mr. Rutman spends quality time with his clients explaining how the law is applied to their specific case so that they understand all procedures and risks.

During the course of his over three decade-long career, Mr. Rutman has tried construction cases involving paraplegia from falling from a height, brain injuries from falling objects, serious injuries for falls from ladders, scaffolds and makeshift construction devices.  Mr. Rutman has an extensive working knowledge of OSHA, the New York State Industrial Code and other state codes.  Mr. Rutman has tried many other cases including sexual harassment, police brutality, accidents of all types including, bus, garage doors, bicycles, slippery floors, improperly built stair cases and dog bite.  Mr. Rutman also handles commercial matters. He has successfully defended or prosecuted matters including bank fraud, mortgage fraud, breach of contracts including for real estate, personal services and employment.  Mr. Rutman helped make new law in the State of New York by obtaining a verdict in favor of a person who was swindled out of money in a loan syndicate. The case involved multiple issues of law involving statute of frauds and state prohibitions of individuals to act as a bank and loan money.

Not all cases go to trial.  Mr. Rutman has obtained millions of dollars in recovery (or settlements) in alternative dispute resolution consisting of mediation and arbitration.  He also represented individuals damaged by the destruction of the Twin Towers before the World Trade Center Victims Compensation Fund.

Mr. Rutman received his undergraduate degree in History from the State University of New York at Albany in 1981. He then moved to Texas where he received his law degree from the University of Houston Law Center in 1984.  Mr. Rutman started his legal career working for a law firm that represented oil and gas companies and he saw how the companies broke promises and, after depleting oil reserves, left the landowners with their property destroyed.  This taught Mr. Rutman that litigation is a game of power. The party with power tries to take advantage of the one without the power. Mr. Rutman then went to work for a premier Texas Plaintiff’s law firm. He traveled around the state primarily representing clients injured in the oil field due to explosions, being caught in the machinery and developing sickness due to exposure to toxic chemicals.

Upon returning to New York, Mr. Rutman went to work for a Plaintiff’s firm in Manhattan.  He selected many juries and tried many cases to verdict for this firm before becoming partners with Brad Popick in 1995.  Since becoming partners with Mr. Popick, Mr. Rutman has continued to be the lead trial attorney for their firm.  Many attorneys can say they are trial attorneys but they do not have real experience. It does not matter how much an insurance company pays their lawyers or how many it hires, the battlefield is leveled once you are in the courtroom.

On a personal level Mr. Rutman lives in the New York Metropolitan area. He is married with 2 children and he generously donates his time as a coach of his son’s soccer team. Rick is an avid skier and enjoys playing volleyball, scuba-diving and yoga.

Mr. Rutman is admitted to practice law in The State of New York, including The United States District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York and is admitted in the State of Texas. He is a member of The New York State Trial Lawyers and The Queens County Bar Association.