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Industries
Accountants & Accounting Firms
Directors & Officers Liability Insurance
Environmental
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Lawyers & Law Firms
Mass Torts
Practices
Antitrust
Appellate
Commercial Litigation
Copyright, Trademark & Intellectual Property
Education
J.D.
University of Michigan Law School
1975, magna cum laude, Order of the Coif, Elected to Law Review
Recipient, American Jurisprudence Book Award, Administrative Law
Recipient, Case Club Book Award
B.A.
University of Michigan
1972, with high distinction and honors, Phi Beta Kappa, James B. Angell Scholar
Awards and Honors
Washington, DC Super Lawyers 2008
The Best Lawyers in America® 2008
Leading Lawyer by Chambers USA 2007
2007 “Lawdragon 3000” Leading Lawyer
Washington, DC Super Lawyers 2007
Bar Admissions
District of Columbia
Court Admissions
U.S. District Court - District of Columbia
U.S. District Court - Maryland
U.S. Court of Appeals - 1st Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals - 4th Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals - 5th Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals - 6th Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals - 9th Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals - 10th Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals - 11th Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals - District of Columbia Circuit
U.S. Supreme Court
Professional Affiliations
American Bar Association
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John
R.
Gerstein, Partner
Washington, DC
| p | (202) 662-2009 |
| f | (202) 662-2190 |
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Jack Gerstein is a partner in the Washington, DC office of Ross, Dixon & Bell, LLP, which was founded in 1983 as a split off of Washington, DC’s largest firm, Hogan & Hartson, where Mr. Gerstein commenced his career.
Mr. Gerstein has a diverse litigation practice in the areas of professional liability, insurance, toxic torts, antitrust, telecommunications, product liability, intellectual property, securities, commercial fraud, and breach of contract, among others. His clients in these areas range from major U.S. corporations to individuals in litigation throughout the United States. Mr. Gerstein also regularly represents law firms and accounting firms throughout the country in major litigation. Many of his cases involve large dollar figures in controversy and are on the forefront of emerging legal issues. Mr. Gerstein is known for his creative and aggressive litigation style and has enjoyed an extraordinary record of success in litigated matters. To date, Mr. Gerstein has been fortunate not to lose any case that he has tried, nor any appeal that he has argued.
At the trial level, Mr. Gerstein has represented both plaintiffs and defendants. On the plaintiff’s side, he has, among other victories, achieved one of the largest jury verdicts in America in 1996 ($252.5 million), obtained an $85 million settlement, serving as co-lead counsel on behalf of a group of telecommunication companies in litigation involving telephone rates, and recovered millions of dollars on behalf of his clients, including at least one state record recovery, for personal injury victims. In Chambers USA 2007, Mr. Gerstein was described as “a fabulous trial lawyer in every sense of the word,” and has earned a reputation amongst his peers as being “extremely smart and talented in the court.”
Recently, Mr. Gerstein served as lead counsel in an 8-month long trial of a $500 million multiparty case, in which a group of insurers challenged coverage for a corporation’s $500 million settlement with asbestos claimants, as part of a larger plan to effect a prepackaged bankruptcy. The case resulted in a resounding victory for Mr. Gerstein’s client and the insurers with which it was allied. Finding that there was no coverage for the claims under the challenged agreement, the court determined that the agreement was collusive, unreasonable, and allowed “inherently fraudulent” claims to qualify for payment.
On the defense side, Mr. Gerstein has achieved a large number of victories, both on motions for summary judgment and at trial. In one creative resolution of a case, on the eve of a month-long trial in which the FDIC sought $70 million from his client, a prominent accounting firm, Mr. Gerstein persuaded the FDIC to agree to a mini-trial before an arbitrator with “baseball style” final binding arbitration. Under the rules agreed upon, the dollar figures which the parties could propose to the arbitrator were subject to a “high-low,” with the “high” representing only a tiny fraction of the amount claimed. The arbitration trial produced the lowest “low,” which the FDIC had equated to “scorched earth nuclear victory” for Mr. Gerstein’s client.
In another matter, an insurance company hired Mr. Gerstein and one of his partners as lead counsel in defending against an effort by an insured entity to impose upon it $750 million in liability for a judgment entered against its insured. Mr. Gerstein and his firm were successful in defeating the claim in its entirety and having that result affirmed on appeal.
Mr. Gerstein also has successfully handled numerous appeals on behalf of clients, including before the DC Court of Appeals, the Fourth Circuit, the Sixth Circuit, the Tenth Circuit, the Delaware Supreme Court, the Pennsylvania Court of Appeals, and other appellate bodies.
When not practicing law, Mr. Gerstein can be found skiing, playing golf, driving sports cars, or riding motorcycles.
In The News
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