Ted A. Schmidt, Attorney

Ted’s early career as a trial attorney began on the other side of the fence, in the offices of a major insurance defense firm. It was there that Ted acquired the experience, the skills and the special insight into defense strategy that have served him so well in the field of personal injury law. Notable among his successful verdicts was the landmark Sparks vs. Republic National Life Insurance Company case, a $4.5 million award to Ted’s client. To this day, it is the defining case for insurance bad faith, and yet it is only one of several other multi-million dollar jury judgments won by Ted during his career. He is certified by the State Bar of Arizona as a specialist in "wrongful death and bodily injury litigation".

Further examples of Ted’s accomplishments in and out of the courtroom on behalf of his clients include the Bloom v. Brunswick Corporation case where he successfully obtained a $9 million verdict for a young man who had lost his leg in a boating accident. Ted advocated there was a product defect in the boat and convinced the jury to include a $6 million punitive damage award. Similarly, Ted tried a tire failure case in southern Idaho where he convinced the jury that a tire had been negligently installed and secured a $4.5 million verdict for his clients.

Ted was the attorney who represented a young lady badly mauled by a bear on Mt. Lemmon a few years ago. Ted’s investigation and discovery revealed that the State of Arizona had known of the dangerous propensities of this particular bear for some time and had violated its own policies in capturing and releasing the bear. Ted obtained a multi-million dollar settlement on behalf of his client, the first of its kind in the State of Arizona if not North America. More recently, Ted and Bob tried a LASIK eye surgery case for a United Airlines pilot obtaining a $4 million verdict in Pima County. Ultimately the case was settled for that amount after Ted and Bob were successful on appeal. To this date this case stands as the largest verdict in a LASIK eye surgery case anywhere in the country.

Ted is recognized in Best Lawyers in America, is a Fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers as well as a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates. He occasionally teaches at the University of Arizona College of Law and has been recognized by the Arizona State Bar as Member of The Year.

Originally from Mansfield, Ohio, Ted has been in Tucson since his undergraduate years at the University of Arizona and as a graduate of the University’s College of Law. He is active in the community especially with youth activities, having been a scout leader with the Boy Scouts, a coach in Little League, and President of the Catalina Foothills High School Booster Club. He has also been a member of the President’s Club at the University of Arizona, and he and his wife Ann have established the Tara Nicole Schmidt "Have a Dream" Memorial Scholarship at the UA. This scholarship has funded, and continues to fund, the educational pursuits of worthy Arizona students.

Ted and Ann have four children.

• Sparks v. Republic Nat. Life Ins. Co. 1982