Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani has named John Robinson co-Office Managing Partner of the firm’s Hartford, Connecticut office. He joins partner Dennis Brown in the leadership role for the office.
The Hartford team has national and international litigation experience in a comprehensive range of matters, with a focus on complex commercial, tort, catastrophic loss, construction litigation, contract negotiation, employment litigation as well as defending the insurance industry in coverage disputes.
Gordon & Rees Hartford attorneys specifically handle matters including D&O claims, advertising injury lawsuits, maritime disasters, broker/dealer professional liability matters, product liability claims, life sciences, drug, medical device, toxic substances and asbestos litigation. The team in Hartford also has commercial arbitration and trial (including class action) experience with matters involving business interference, antitrust/price-fixing, breach of contract, fraud, unfair trade practices, and breaches of fiduciary duty.
The group represents insurance carriers, and a broad array of other business entities in all stages of litigation, and has defended cases to verdict in state and federal courts in a number of jurisdictions across the U.S. The team has also represented clients in high-stakes appellate proceedings.
Robinson opened the Boston office for the firm and is admitted to practice in both Massachusetts and Connecticut, with substantial experience in handling complex tort and commercial litigation matters. He is the co-chair of the firm’s Tort and General Liability National COVID-19 Task Force. While not admitted to practice law in these states, he is also the contact partner for the firm’s New Hampshire, Maine and Vermont offices. Robinson has extensive experience in handling catastrophic personal injury, complex products liability, commercial dispute, drug and medical device, and toxic tort litigation. He has related class action, unfair trade practices and consumer fraud experience. He counsels clients on product safety issues and risk management, and tried cases substantially or to verdict in various jurisdictions, including Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Maryland. He currently defends a client across the New England region in elevator related litigation.
Brown primarily guides international insurance clients in resolving complex contentious matters, typically involving claims of unfair insurance practices and bad faith. He has a demonstrated ability to prevail in trials addressing difficult issues such as sophisticated scientific, medical, economic and accounting disputes but never stops seeking cost-effective, economically justified solutions to significant risks. Brown frequently serves as a “parachute” counsel in large cases outside Connecticut where early adverse rulings have put his clients at risk. Brown has also supervised the defense of hundreds of employment, product liability, property, toxic substances and asbestos claims. He has provided advice and litigation defense on coverage issues to U.S. and London based insurers, including defense of claimed pollution coverage, advertising claims, D&O issues, maritime disaster claims, industrial construction claims, and various property and general liability coverage issues.