Brian Mooney is a senior partner at Gordon & Rees with extensive experience in complex civil litigation and sophisticated commercial transactions. His clients are both start-up and established companies in a broad range of industries, including pharmaceuticals, medical devices, CMBS special servicers, chemicals, banking and financial industries, real estate, food and beverage, electronics, information technology, retail and healthcare. Mr. Mooney’s practice focuses on product liability, complex commercial litigation, regulatory compliance, class actions, contracts, unfair business practices, and bankruptcy, restructuring and creditors' rights.
Mr. Mooney is the Chair of the national Drug and Medical Device Practice at Gordon & Rees and regularly serves as national product liability defense counsel for pharmaceutical and medical device companies in both single action and mass tort litigation. In this capacity, he is responsible for developing and coordinating national litigation strategies as well as the defense of the individual actions, including trial. Mr. Mooney has also served as lead California, West Coast and national mediation and settlement counsel for pharmaceutical and medical device clients with cases pending throughout the U.S. Recent experience includes briefing and arguing the important issue of federal preemption in numerous states, including successful recent arguments as an issue of first impression in the State of Kansas at the trial court level, the appellate court level, and before the Kansas Supreme Court. Mr. Mooney also provides pre-litigation counseling in the areas of regulatory review and compliance, pre-clinical and clinical product testing, adverse event reporting and marketing issues.
Mr. Mooney’s commercial transactions and business litigation clients include both privately-held businesses and publicly-traded national and global corporations. His commercial transactions and business litigation practice emphasizes the negotiation, preparation and resolution of disputes involving a broad range of business-to-business transactions, including contracts to provide goods or services, purchases and sales of assets, finance and lending agreements, and real estate transactions. He also has extensive experience in bankruptcy, creditors’ rights, restructuring, workouts and related litigation, particularly with regard to assisting master servicers and financial institutions holding and/or servicing foreclosed collateralized loan portfolios. Mr. Mooney has also handled litigation involving unfair competition, fraudulent and deceptive trade practices, false advertising, intellectual property, breach of contract, tortious interference with contract, and non-competition, non-solicitation and non-disclosure agreements by former business owners, employees and partners.
Representative Experience:
- Overseeing the handling of CMBS loans in California, Arizona, Nevada and Oregon, including foreclosures, placement of receivers, purchase and sale agreements, workouts, bankruptcies and related debtors/guarantor litigation.
- Handled contractual negotiations and contract litigation for national beverage manufactures and distributors.
- Briefed and argued the issue of federal preemption in a number of states, including recent arguments as an issue of first impression in the State of Kansas at the trial court level, the appellate court level, and before the Kansas Supreme Court, and was successful at each stage of the argument. Troutman, et al. v. Curtis, et al. 185 P.3d 930 (Kan. 2008).
- Disputes involving intellectual property, trade secrets, §17200 and §17500 violations, alleged Lanham act violations, and disputes concerning both Federal and State SPAM statutes.
- National counsel, and West Coast trial counsel, for orthopedic manufacturer in cases involving knee and hip orthopedic implants.
- California counsel for national gynecological medical device litigation.
- California counsel for orthopedic manufacturer involving shoulder pumps and orthopedic implants.
- National counsel team member for pharmaceutical company in the diet drug litigation, and serving as a member of the Northern California trial team.
- National counsel and lead trial counsel for manufacturer of vascular closure devices.
- National counsel and lead trial counsel for manufacturer of stents and related vascular devices.
- Regional counsel team member for breast implant litigation.
- California counsel for manufacturer of endoscopic tools and cutters.
- California counsel for manufacturer of temporomandibular joint implants.
- California counsel for manufacturer of small joint silicone implants.
- California counsel for flu vaccine manufacturer in claims involving Guillain Barre Syndrome.
- California counsel for manufacturer of pain medications involved in dentistry and oral surgery.
- California counsel for over-the-counter supplements alleged to have caused pulmonary damage.
- California counsel for polio vaccine manufacturer clients on business and advertising practices.
Practices:
- Drug & Medical Device
- Commercial Litigation
- Intellectual Property
- Food & Beverage
- Bankruptcy, Restructuring & Creditors' Rights
- Life Sciences
- Privacy & Data Security
Admissions:
- California
- U.S. District Courts, California (Northern, Eastern, Central and Southern)
- United States Supreme Court
- Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals
Memberships:
- American Bar Association
- Bar Association of San Francisco
- Defense Research Institute, Commercial Litigation Committee
- American Chemical Society
Education:
- J.D., University of California, Los Angeles
- B.A., honors, Political Science, University of California, Davis
