Jeffrey Swedo is the managing partner of the Orange County office of Gordon & Rees. Mr. Swedo practices throughout the State of California and chairs the firm's national Products Liability, Aviation, and Torts Practice Group, which is over 100 lawyers strong. With over 30 years of trial experience, Mr. Swedo brings a unique style of creative approaches and resourceful strategies to litigation. Mr. Swedo finds that the best pre-trial resolutions for his clients occur when opposing parties understand that he is prepared to try a case to verdict.

Mr. Swedo has successfully defended clients in complex multi-party matters involving products liability claims, high exposure torts, and medical devices. Representative products include construction equipment, forklifts, automobiles, automotive component parts, tires, power tools, safety helmets, and a wide variety of consumer products. Mr. Swedo’s experience also extends to lawsuits involving aviation claims, toxic torts, and construction defects. Mr. Swedo is a firm believer that early analysis of every lawsuit is key to determining strategy as to whether the claim should be geared for settlement or prepared for trial. This serves to reduce the costs of litigation and promotes effective early claims resolution.

As a commercial litigator, Mr. Swedo understands a client’s need to weigh the costs and burdens of litigation with an expected outcome. He strives for win-win and business solutions that allow the client to return their focus to their business activities rather than become mired in litigation. He gears his strategies to protect the client’s relationships with others, their brand, and their reputation. Mr. Swedo has defended and prosecuted numerous business lawsuits. He has also litigated and tried a number of real estate related matters, and represents several large homeowners’ associations in their real estate and business litigation.

In matters of professional liability, Mr. Swedo has defended professionals from various fields including attorneys, accountants, architects, and engineers. In these cases, sensitivity to the client’s reputation and business, and vindicating them from any accused malpractice, is critical to any successful outcome.

Mr. Swedo is prepared to try a case at any time and anywhere a client asks him to do so. He has been called upon many times to join a a case late in the game as co-counsel or taking over as first chair, when original counsel has faced some unforeseen challenges. Besides his practice throughout the State of California, Mr. Swedo is western regional counsel for several clients, and he has extended his practice into Arizona and Nevada.

ADMISSIONS

California
United States District Court, Central and Southern Districts of California

United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit

Examples of Mr. Swedo’s extensive range of experience include the following:

Products Liability

Mr. Swedo has litigated and tried cases for a variety of product manufacturers and suppliers, with product types running the gamut from industrial products to consumer products. He has successfully taken a number of these cases to trial. He has litigated numerous complex, multi-party construction defect cases, including several successful trials, and has numerous defense verdicts and summary judgments to his credit.

Recent Trials

Mr. Swedo’s most recent trials have involved a complex tire defect lawsuit in which he obtained a nonsuit; the defense of a corporation whose Board of Directors election was unsuccessfully challenged under the Corporations Code; and the defense of an insurance carrier who established it had no duty to defend an additional insured vendor for a products liability lawsuit. He has had a number of recent cases settle during trial, whereby his clients received very favorable settlements after the opposing side viewed the defense presentation.

Commercial Litigation

In commercial matters, Mr. Swedo has both defended and prosecuted a wide variety of matters ranging from breach of contract claims to cases involving fraud, lender liability, and business torts. His commercial practice has included a large number of real property disputes. In two recent cases of note, he quieted title to a rare vintage motor vehicle having a value in excess of $10 million, and resolved a dispute as to a $17 million vintage vehicle. Mr. Swedo also recently tried a business interference case, obtaining a multi-million dollar settlement after several days of trial.

J.D., cum laude, The Cornell Law School, 1977

B.S., B.A., summa cum laude, Economics, Valparaiso University, 1973