In memoriam, Richard Gabriel Braman, December 8, 1953 - June 9, 2014

Richard Braman, Founder and Executive Director Emeritus of The Sedona Conference, passed away peacefully on Monday, June 9, 2014 in the Village of Oak Creek, Sedona, AZ.  His loving wife, Margo, was at his side at the time of passing. 
 
Richard was born on December 8, 1953 in Minneapolis, Minnesota to Don & Sally Braman.  He graduated summa cum laude from the University of Minnesota, then magna cum laude from the University of Minnesota Law School.  As a licensed attorney in California and Minnesota, he represented both plaintiffs and defendants in antitrust, intellectual property, and other complex business litigation since 1978. Prior to founding The Sedona Conference, Richard was Co-Chair of the Antitrust Practice Group of the Minneapolis law firm of Gray Plant Mooty, which he joined in 1987. Before joining Gray Plant Mooty, Richard owned and operated the nationally-renowned jazz club, Gabriel’s, at St. Anthony and Main on the Mississippi River in Minneapolis.  He also practiced in a plaintiff’s antitrust class action law firm in Minneapolis and with a large, defense-oriented firm in San Francisco, CA. In 2013, he was named by The American Lawyer as “one of the 50 most innovative people in Big Law in the last 50 years.”
 
Richard founded The Sedona Conference in 1997 in pursuit of his dream and vision to move the law forward in a reasoned and just way.  Richard’s personal principles and beliefs became the guiding principles for The Sedona Conference: professionalism and civility, an open mind and respect for the beliefs of others, thoughtfulness and reflection, and the beauty of a process based on civilized dialogue.  Today, the organization he founded is considered one of the nation’s leading law-and-policy think tanks; a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) research and educational institute dedicated to the advanced study of law and policy in the areas of antitrust law, complex litigation, and intellectual property rights. The mission of The Sedona Conference is to drive the reasoned and just advancement of law and policy by stimulating ongoing dialogue amongst leaders of the bench and bar to achieve consensus on tipping point issues. Inspired by Richard’s guidance, The Sedona Conference brings together the brightest minds in a dialogue based, think-tank setting with the goal of creating practical solutions and recommendations of immediate benefit to the bench and bar.
 
The best practices, guidelines and commentaries published by The Sedona Conference have been accepted as neutral, unbiased, well researched, inclusive and thoroughly vetted.  Consequently, the various Sedona Conference publications are widely cited by the courts in the United States and Canada and are recognized as influential and authoritative in the areas of eDiscovery, complex litigation, antitrust law and intellectual property rights. 
 
Richard Braman is survived by his wife Margo Braman, sister Sandra Braman and brother Stuart Braman. 
 
A memorial service for Richard Braman is scheduled for Saturday, June 14, at 2 p.m. at Greer’s Mortuary on Highway 89A in Sedona, AZ.   The Sedona Conference is planning a gathering in celebration of Richard’s life, to be held in Phoenix in mid-July.

Contact Information

Craig Weinlein

Executive Director

The Sedona Conference

Contact via E-mail