Law360 has named Gordon & Rees to its 2014 list of California Powerhouses – 20 law firms that stood out over the past two years for their “sizable presence in the Golden State and their significant regional accomplishments.”
The firm “has expanded into seven offices across the Golden State,” and is among the leaders in its field, noted the article. The areas of practice group growth are several, and have been driven by a highly active regulatory and litigation climate in the state, noted firmwide managing partner Dion Cominos.
Law360 recognized Gordon & Rees’s litigation prowess and 92 percent trial win rate, while also noting the firm’s humble beginnings, major clients, and significant growth. "We grew up as a smaller firm where people tried cases," David Capell, managing partner of the firm’s San Francisco and Oakland offices, said in the article. "Many larger firms do a lot of very fine things, perhaps in the transactional world, but their senior folks may not have tried a lot of cases. It’s more in our DNA to do that.”
“[A] tech-fueled employment and housing boom in Northern California has brought plenty of work to the firm,” Law360 added, pointing out Gordon & Rees’s precedent-setting California Court of Appeal win in a case involving construction contracts and the statute of limitations, and a Fresno County defense victory for a subcontractor in a $10 million brain damage suit (which was first-chaired by name partner Miles Scully and singled out as one of 2013’s top California defense results by the Daily Journal).
The article also noted the importance of the firm’s patent prosecution and life sciences work, which led to the opening of the Carlsbad office in 2012. “The Carlsbad market is a big business community with a lot of corporate clients," Kevin Alexander, managing partner of the San Diego and Carlsbad offices, told Law360. "There's demand every time I talk to clients up there."
Law360 stressed that founding partners Stuart M. Gordon and Donald W. Rees are “still part of the firm,” with Gordon winning a defense verdict last year in a $6 million financial elder abuse suit (a victory also named one of 2013’s top California defense results).
Capell told the publication he is grateful he can watch his firm's founding partners practice on a daily basis. "There have been fundamental changes in the firm [since its founding]," Capell said. "Having them still around gives you perspective and respect for what a lot of individuals have accomplished — and what more we can do."
Celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, Gordon & Rees is a national litigation and business transactions firm with more than 550 lawyers and 31 offices in 20 states. In 2014, The National Law Journal ranked the firm 89th on its list of the largest U.S. firms and The American Lawyer ranked the firm at No. 131 on the Am Law 200 and at No. 26 on its Diversity Scorecard. Gordon & Rees has been recognized on the “BTI Client Service A-Team” survey for the past three years and has been honored as a 2014 "Go-To Law Firm" for Fortune 500 companies as well as selected for inclusion on Corporate Counsel magazine’s 2013 “Who Represents America’s Biggest Companies” list.
To read the Law360 article, click here.