Gilbert
L. Purcell
Senior Trial Partner; Board Certified Civil Trial Attorney; Board of Governors, Consumer Attorneys of California (CAOC) ; Diplomate - 2008, American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA); U.C.L.A. (B.A. Economics 1980—Alumni Scholar); Pepperdine University School of Law (J.D. 1983—Law Review)
Born in Texas, raised in Oklahoma, Gil Purcell relocated to California in 1971 when Chevron closed its Midwestern offices and his family moved to San Francisco. He attended Mt. Diablo High School in Concord, California where he was Valedictorian of his 1976 class. After graduating from UCLA and Pepperdine University Law School, and clerking for famed trial lawyers, Girardi & Keese in Los Angeles, he was a founding member of a mid–sized plaintiffs firm with trial lawyers Federico Sayre (former founding partner with the legendary trial lawyer Melvin Belli) and Raymond Boucher. He tried his first asbestos case in 1986 before now California Supreme Court Chief Justice Ronald M. George. After achieving a sizeable verdict, and one of the first verdicts against the John Crane Packing Company, he was asked to return to the Bay Area and try asbestos cases for Steve Kazan, founding and senior partner of Kazan, McClain, Edises, Simon and Abrams in Oakland.
It was through this trial work that he met current partner, Alan Brayton. Before relocating to the Bay Area, Mr. Purcell tried to verdict the first successful asbestos property damage action in California against W.R. Grace & Co., manufacturer of asbestos–containing spray–applied fireproofing, obtaining the first of several multimillion dollar verdicts. In that case, Mr. Purcell represented the owners of a 32–story condominium building in downtown Los Angeles and had many current and former Superior Court Judges and prominent attorneys as clients.
As lead trial counsel, Mr. Purcell has tried numerous asbestos personal injury actions and other cases representing injured or victimized people throughout California (Alameda, Los Angeles, Solano, San Francisco, Sacramento, Orange, Riverside, Ventura, San Bernardino and Contra Costa counties). He has argued appeals before California Courts of Appeal and in Federal Courts involving complex railroad–related FELA/BIA/Preemption and personal injury issues.
He has testified before the California Legislature on behalf of the Los Angeles Community College District addressing the injustice of limitations running against public entities barring pursuit of remedial asbestos cost recovery litigation.
Mr. Purcell was admitted to California Bar in 1984 and is also admitted before the U.S. Supreme Court; U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit; U.S. District Courts, Northern, Eastern, Central and Southern Districts of California; District of Columbia, Court of Appeals. He is the author of “Rostker v. Goldberg: A Step Backward in Equal Protection, or a Justifiable Affirmation of Congressional Power?” Pepperdine Law Review, Vol.9, No. 2, p. 441. He is on the Board of Governors, Consumer Attorneys of California; and a member of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America or ATLA (former Acting Chair, ATLA Railroad Law Section). He is also a member of the Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles, the Trial Lawyers for Public Justice, and the American Bar Association. Mr. Purcell became an Advocate Member of the American Board of Trial Advocates in October 2003.
Mr. Purcell has been an invited speaker at Cedars Sinai Medical Center on Asbestos Diseases; the Andrews Publications Annual Asbestos Conference in New Orleans, Chicago, and Colorado; Plaintiffs Asbestos Litigation Seminar; KPIX radio; the National Lawyers Guild; and the Bay Area Community Law Foundation—Litigating for Social Justice Program Series.
Mr. Purcell is a graduate of the Jim Russell Racing School, having driven at Laguna Seca and Sears Point Raceway. He hopes to compete soon in the USAC Formula Russell Pro Series Racing Championship, and regularly attends Indy car, CART, Formula One, and IRL races, including the annual Indianapolis 500. He is rated “AV” by Martindale–Hubbell, indicating that he has achieved the height of professional excellence. This peer–reviewed rank indicates the highest level of skill and integrity in an attorney’s practice areas.
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