Gordon & Rees Announces Major East Coast Expansion;
Prominent Attorney Mercedes Colwin To Head New York Office

In an effort to better serve its growing clientele, Gordon & Rees LLP, a San Francisco-based AmLaw Top 200 firm with 10 offices west of the Mississippi River, has announced the opening of its 11th location in New York City.

In related news, Gordon & Rees simultaneously announced that prominent defense attorney Mercedes Colwin will join the firm and serve as managing partner for its first East Coast office, which opened September 12 at One Liberty Plaza in Manhattan.

Colwin is a highly-respected and versatile litigator. In 2005, Forbes Business American Airlines named Colwin one of the six most influential women in America-a list that included former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. The Long Island Business News recognized her as one of New York's rising "young stars" under the age of 40. Also this year, Notre Dame Law School presented Colwin with the prestigious Graciela Olivarez Award for outstanding achievement as "a leading Hispanic lawyer of the highest ethical and moral standards who exemplifies commitment to community service."

"The decision to open this new office was absolutely client driven," said Michael Lucey, Gordon & Rees' firm wide managing partner. "Our new location will better serve our New York clients, while at the same time, benefit our other clients who have interests on the East Coast."

Experiencing extensive growth since its founding in 1974, Gordon & Rees now features more than 270 attorneys in its 11 offices, including its headquarters in San Francisco, San Diego, Los Angeles, Orange County, Sacramento, Portland, Las Vegas, Houston, Phoenix, Dallas and New York.

Lucey particularly expressed delight about Colwin's decision to join the firm.

"Mercedes is a quintessential trial attorney, an excellent diversity spokesperson and a dedicated leader in her community," Lucey said. "She is admired by her clients and legal colleagues alike and will lead the New York office with an impressive team. Gordon & Rees' expansion provides bicoastal service for our clients with the opening of a New York office, and we cannot imagine a better person to launch that effort than Mercedes Colwin."

Widely regarded as one of the top national legal analysts for the FOX News Channel, Colwin has handled a variety of litigation during her career, including employment law, commercial litigation, products liability, civil rights violations and criminal law. She regularly defends executives from Fortune 500 companies charged with allegations of wrongdoing, including claims of sexual or other personal misconduct. Colwin appears weekly on the FOX network's legal segment called, "On the Docket," one of the highest rated legal segments on national cable news where she comments on critical legal issues.

Prior to entering private practice, Colwin devoted several years in the public sector. In 1996, Gov. George Pataki appointed Colwin as an Administrative Law Judge for the New York State Division of Human Rights, where she served for nine years. At the time of her appointment, Colwin was one of the youngest ALJ's in the agency's history. She remains a member of the Governor's Advisory Counsel for Women and is an active member of the Women's Presidents' Organization.

Colwin, who earned her Juris Doctor from Brooklyn Law School and a B.A. degree in English from New York University, becomes the third woman to lead one of Gordon & Rees' 11 offices. Sara Thorpe has been managing partner of the firm's largest office in San Francisco since 2003, and Kathleen Rhoads manages the firm's Sacramento office.

Joining Colwin in the New York office is Deborah Swindells Donovan and Diane Krebs. Donovan was previously a partner at Anderson Kill, Dickstein Shapiro. A graduate of the University of Virginia School of Law, Donovan is a former Assistant United States Attorney in the criminal division in the Southern District of New York. She specializes in employment and commercial law litigation with a focus on complex litigation and federal trial work. Krebs, formerly associated with Orrick Herrington, is a graduate of NYU Law School and specializes in labor and employment litigation and counseling.

Gordon & Rees, established 31 years ago, is a full-service defense firm with more than 20 different practice and industry groups. Historically a litigation firm, Gordon & Rees now has core capabilities to better service its clients in many areas including: business transactions, intellectual property, employment (litigation and counseling), commercial and real property, pharmaceutical, medical devices, environmental, toxic tort, construction, health and long term care, product liability, insurance, international, bankruptcy and creditors' rights, tax, wealth management, probate, appellate, professional liability, and maritime law.