Albert R. Abramson founded Abramson & Smith in 1975 with Bill Smith. Al was born in San Francisco and has lived in the area he entire life with the exception of two-and-a-half years of service in the U.S. Marine Corp.

Al graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1951, with a Bachelor of Arts degree with highest honors in economics. He was inducted into Phi Beta Kapa. Thereafter, Al graduated from Hastings College of Law in 1954, where he had been Note Editor of the Law Review and was inducted in the Order of the Coif, a scholastic achievement honor society. He worked his way through Hastings as a law clerk and investigator for a firm specializing in representing plaintiffs in personal injury cases. This invaluable experience led him to the field of practice in which he spent his entire career.

Outside of his practice, Al obtained his pilot’s license in 1966. He then embarked upon the sub-specialty of airplane crash litigation and became one of the pioneers in its development. In fact, Al obtained the largest ever verdict for a single plaintiff in an aviation crash case, earning him a listing in the Guinness Book of World Records.