University of California, Irvine School of Law (UCI Law) is pleased to announce the creation of the Linda Ray Bridgford Scholarship. The $150,000 endowed scholarship, established by Bridgford, Gleason & Artinian LLP, is named in honor of Richard K. Bridgford’s sister who passed away in 2018.
“My late sister shared my commitment to providing opportunities for students who want to pursue a legal education and to supporting UCI Law, which is building a national reputation as one of the best in the country,” said Bridgford, Chair of UCI Law’s Board of Visitors and a member of the UCI Board of Trustees.
Due to a unique matching program offered by UCI, Bridgford’s $150,000 gift will qualify for a one-to-one match, doubling its impact.
“I am truly humbled by Rich’s generosity,” said L. Song Richardson, UCI Law Dean and Chancellor’s Professor of Law. “He’s been a great friend to the law school, and to me. His latest gift will allow a deserving student to attend UCI Law and minimize their future loan debt burden.”
UCI Law is in the midst of a five year, $65 million “Brilliant Future” fundraising campaign. Launched in October 2019, the goal of the campaign is to become a top 10 law school and to accomplish that the UCI Law way: with a commitment to public service, groundbreaking research, and preparing students to confront the challenges of a changing legal profession.
More about Richard K. Bridgford
Bridgford is a successful trial attorney with 35 years of experience and has obtained significant financial awards for his clients in jury trials, judge trials, arbitrations, mediations, appeals and pre‐litigation disputes, all as first chair. He presently acts as plaintiff’s counsel in a number of mass tort and class action litigation, including the mass tort Las Vegas shooting lead death and injury cases; mass tort Northern California wild fires; and class actions on defective copper pipe cases for product defect, among others.
Bridgford also represents individuals and businesses in breach of contracts, business/commercial fraud, construction defect, construction delay, real estate contracts, real estate fraud, and broker/finder actions. He has handled high value estates (beneficiary/trustee disputes), insurance bad faith and coverage, unfair competition, trade secrets/intellectual property, wrongful termination, personal injury, and high value auto accidents. Liability exposure on these cases has ranged from $500,000 to over $30 billion dollars.
He graduated from Stanford undergrad with a B.A. in Economics and a perfect GPA in 1982 and Stanford Law School in 1985. Before starting his firm, he was an attorney at Paul Hastings, Janofsky & Walker in the firm’s Los Angeles and Orange County offices as well as Hamilton & Samuels in Newport Beach. Prior to his work in private practice, he was an extern in the White House Office of Legal Counsel in Washington, D.C.
About the University of California, Irvine School of Law
The University of California, Irvine School of Law is a visionary law school and provides an innovative and comprehensive curriculum, prioritizes public service, and demonstrates a commitment to diversity within the legal profession. UCI Law students have completed more than 100,000 hours of pro bono work in the past decade. Forty-five percent of UCI Law’s graduates are students of color. The collaborative and interdisciplinary community at UCI Law includes extraordinary students, world-renowned faculty, engaged alumni, and enthusiastic supporters. More information on UCI Law is available here. Please follow us on Twitter and Instagram @ucilaw and SnapChat: ucilaw.