Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani welcomes James C. “Jay” Morris as a partner in the St. Louis office. Morris joins the firm in the construction, professional liability defense, insurance, maritime, commercial litigation, and trucking & transportation practice groups. Morris was previously with a regional litigation firm and practiced out of a St. Louis office.
"Jay is an exceptional attorney and we are very pleased he has joined Gordon & Rees," said Hayes Ryan, managing partner of the St. Louis and Chicago offices. "Jay will be instrumental in growing our St. Louis office as we continue our firm's national expansion."
Morris is an experienced litigator who has successfully defended individuals and businesses against a wide array of liability claims, including construction defect, insurance coverage, professional liability, products liability, consumer rights defense, employment, catastrophic injury, wrongful death, and maritime/admiralty. Through smart and detailed investigation and preparation, coupled with efficient, systematic and proactive discovery, Morris often is able to establish negotiating leverage and push his clients’ cases toward favorable resolution. Morris has also successfully tried more than twenty cases to verdict in both state and federal courts. He was recognized by the Missouri Lawyers Weekly in 2015 for having secured one of the largest defense verdicts in the State of Missouri.
Morris also has considerable transactional experience, and he regularly counsels employers and business clients regarding legal considerations and trends in the law. As a former business owner and executive, he brings the wisdom of lessons learned firsthand to provide his clients with practical advice when addressing difficult situations.
Morris is licensed to practice in Missouri and Alabama. He is rated AV Preeminent, the highest possible rating in both legal ability and ethical standards by the Martindale Hubbell peer review system.
Morris is a member of the Missouri Bar Association, Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis and The Lawyers Association of St. Louis. Morris graduated from the University of Alabama School of Law where he earned the CALI Excellence for the Future Award for Health Law and the George LeMaistre Scholarship.
Gordon & Rees is a national litigation and business transactions firm with more than 850 lawyers in offices across the United States. Our lawyers provide full service representation to public and private companies ranging from the Fortune 500 to start-ups. Founded in 1974, Gordon & Rees is recognized among the fastest growing and largest law firms in the country. Additionally, in 2018 Law360 ranked the firm among the top 40 largest U.S. firms and The American Lawyer ranked the firm among the top 45 on its Diversity Scorecard.