Stuart M. Gordon founded GRSM in 1974 with Donald W. Rees in a small office with one associate and has experienced almost unparalleled growth since that time. He acted as the managing partner of the firm for 23 years and then as the Financial Partner, guiding it from a small firm of three attorneys to a civil litigation and business transactions firm of more than 1,600 lawyers in 80+ offices throughout the U.S. with at least one office in every state. The firm has always been recognized for its camaraderie and its support of diversity.
Examples of Stuart’s extensive experience include the following:
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Stuart has a prominent reputation for serving as National and Regional Counsel for major companies, both as trial counsel and settlement counsel in numerous litigation matters. During the last 20 years, he served as National Counsel in the Diet Drug Litigation and as lead defense counsel and negotiator on the West Coast for Wyeth in the fen/phen litigation. In this capacity, Stuart negotiated settlements of several thousand cases for Wyeth and assisted in guiding and managing the litigation throughout the country. Mr. Gordon also served a significant role in the L-Tryptophan litigation on behalf of Nature-Made, the Norplant litigation, Reglan litigation and IVV complex litigation (Flu Shot) in the MDL on behalf of Wyeth, the Bextra/Celebrex litigation on behalf of Pfizer and the Youth Soccer class-action as well as many others.
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Stuart also has substantial experience in attorney malpractice actions successfully representing defendants over the last 25 years. He has also represented numerous high net worth clients with a wide range of legal matters including agreements, real estate transactions and litigation and advice on several important financial and legal issues. Lastly, he has been involved with many different types of other litigation including business matters, real estate, personal liability issues and financial issues with substantial success.
Admissions
- California
- U.S. District Courts for the Northern and Eastern District of California
- United States Supreme Court
Memberships
- Bar Association of San Francisco
- State Bar of California
- American Bar Association
- Northern California Association of Defense Counsel
- International Association of Defense Counsel
Community Involvement
Stuart has received numerous recognitions for his service to the community. He received the Cal Athletics Hall of Fame Service Award and the Chancellor’s Citation for Leadership and Contributions to the University of California, Berkeley. He also received the Cal Baseball ‘Excellence in Leadership Award,’ which is awarded each year in Stuart’s name. Additionally, he received the ‘Citation Award’ from the Boalt Hall Alumni Association of the University of California, the highest honor bestowed upon Boalt alumni.
Stuart was selected ‘for his dedication to public service, his contributions to the legal profession, and his support of Berkeley Law.’ He received the Cal Bear Backer of the Year Award for his support of Cal Athletics. He is credited with saving the Cal Baseball Program in 2011, a most noteworthy achievement at UC Berkeley by raising $10million in 5 weeks before the Chancellor eliminated the Program.
Stuart is actively involved in a wide-range of philanthropy at the University of California at Berkeley. His donations have helped make possible the indoor multipurpose complex at the baseball field as well as the installation of the lights and the new state-of-the-art video scoreboard and the installation of the outfield irrigation system and the renovated men’s locker room and press box.
Stuart is one of the four founders of the Golden Bear Athletic Fund raising money for Cal athletics, initially raising more than $400,000 in its first year in 1969 and three years later raising up to $1.5 million before transitioning the GBAF to the Athletic Department under the direction of the Athletic Director, Dave Maggard and renaming it the Bear Backers which now raises more than $35 million each year to support the athletic programs at the University of California.
His donations have helped make possible the Stuart M. Gordon Moot Courtroom at the Boalt Hall School of Law. He has served on the Board of Directors and as President of the Boalt Hall School of Law, Permanent Class President and President of the Alumni Association.
In addition to giving back to his alma mater, Stuart has also given back throughout the San Francisco Bay Area community, serving on the Board of Directors and past President of The Guardsmen as well as being elected into the Guardsmen Hall Of Fame. (An organization which raises money to send disadvantaged children to summer camp and to private schools in the Bay Area).
Stuart was appointed by Mayor Diane Feinstein to the Juvenile Justice Commission for the City and County of San Francisco and was subsequently elected Chairman, and was also a board member of the Legal Aid Society of San Francisco, and the Auxiliary of San Francisco General Hospital, and the San Francisco Boys and Girls Clubs.
He was recently awarded the United Way Tocqueville Legacy Award for his outstanding contributions to the Bay Area United Way. In 2018, he was awarded the Emerald Warrior Award from the Guardsmen as the outstanding fundraiser in Guardsmen history going back to 1997.
He has also been a major supporter of the Gladstone Institute and specifically In the area of spinal cord research.
Stuart is most proud that the Cal baseball stadium will soon be named the “Stu Gordon Baseball Stadium” in his honor.
Stuart is happily married to Florianne Gordon and has two sons, Tom and John.
Education
- J.D., University of California Berkeley, Boalt School of Law
- President of the Student Body
- Recipient of Corpus Juris Secundum Award
- A.D., University of California Berkeley
Honors
- Who’s Who Legal Thought Leader: USA, Product Liability Defense, 2023
- Recipient of the Hall of Fame Service Award for outstanding long-term contribution to the ideals of the Cal Athletics Department
- Recipient of the Chancellor’s Citation for Leadership and Contributions to the University of California, Berkeley
- Cal Baseball “Excellence in Leadership Award,” which is awarded each year in Stuart’s name
- Citation Award, Boalt Hall Alumni Association of the University of California, Berkeley
- “CLAY” Award (California Lawyer Attorneys of the Year), recognition for “achievements [that] have made a profound impact on the law.”
- Top Rated Lawyer-AV® Preeminent™,
Martindale-Hubbell - San Francisco Lawyer of the Year in Best Lawyers in America© 2015 and 2023, distinction in Mass Tort Litigation and Class Actions-Defendants
- Best Lawyers in America® distinction in Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions – Defendants (2010-2025), Product Liability Litigation – Defendants (2010-2025)
- Who’s Who Legal Product Liability Defense, “…the firm’s founder and a dean of the Bar especially with respect to his pharmaceutical and medical device work…” (California and International editions, 2007-2012)
- Super Lawyers® distinction in Class Action/Mass Torts, Personal Injury Defense: Products, and Civil Litigation Defense (2004-2018)
- Expert Guide to U.S. Product Liability Lawyers, The Legal Media Group
- Award of Merit, Bar Association of San Francisco (2011)
- Legacy Tocqueville Award, United Way of the Bay Area (2014)
- Emerald Warrior Award as leading fundraiser in Guardsmen history (2018)