Richard Eldridge, a veteran trial lawyer and former judge highly respected in the Oklahoma legal community and beyond, passed away on Tuesday, December 13, 2011, after a long battle with illness. He will be greatly missed by family, friends and colleagues, including the lawyers and staff of McAfee & Taft.

Richard was a founding partner of Eldridge Cooper Steichen & Leach, a Tulsa-based boutique litigation firm that had combined practices with McAfee & Taft in October 2011.

Richard’s vast legal career spanned more than 36 years and included valuable courtroom experience both in front of and behind the bench. He served as a former special district judge for Tulsa and Pawnee counties in Oklahoma, as a former judge for the Oklahoma Temporary Court of Appeals, and as a litigator with more than 30 years of trial experience, including more than 150 jury trials, to his credit.

Much of Richard’s notable experience and expertise was concentrated in the areas of product liability defense, mass torts and other complex civil litigation. His clients included leading developers, manufacturers and distributors of brand name and generic pharmaceuticals, medical devices, biomaterials, and medical technology and services, as well as insurance companies and manufacturers and marketers of other retail and commercial products. In addition to representing them in litigation, he routinely advised them on such topics as potential product liability exposure, product labeling and warning issues, and insurance issues.

Richard was also a frequent author and speaker on litigation-related topics, particularly those involving the pharmaceutical, medical device and manufacturing industries. His achievements as a litigator earned him election as fellow with the Litigation Counsel of America and inclusion in Oklahoma Super Lawyers.

Active in the Tulsa community, Richard served in various non-profit board positions, including being a long-time board member and past president of Tulsa Christian Education Corp., operator of Metro Christian Academy; past chair of the Asbury United Methodist Weekday Children’s Ministry Board; and a past director-at-large for the Tulsa County Bar Association. He was recognized by the Metro Christian Elementary Sports Hall of Fame for his many, many years as an elementary basketball and baseball coach and taught the same adult Sunday School Class he has taught for more than 30 years. An Eagle Scout, Richard was also involved in all level of scouting, from Tiger Cubs to Cubs to Webelos to Boy Scouts.