COLSON HICKS EIDSON PARTNERS SELECTED AS MOST INFLUENTIAL TRIAL LAWYERS IN AMERICA FOR SECOND CONSECUTIVE YEAR
COLSON HICKS EIDSON PARTNERS SELECTED AS MOST INFLUENTIAL TRIAL LAWYERS IN AMERICA FOR SECOND CONSECUTIVE YEAR
Partners Mike Eidson and Ervin Gonzalez Recognized among Nation’s Elite; Representing Two of Only Eight South Florida Lawyers Selected to Prestigious List
CORAL GABLES, Fla. (Jan. 22, 2014) – The law firm of Colson Hicks Eidson is pleased to announce that partners Lewis S. “Mike” Eidson and Ervin A. Gonzalez have been selected for the second consecutive year as America’s 100 Most Influential Trial Lawyersby The Trial Lawyer magazine, the official magazine of The National Trial Lawyers organization.
The selection places Eidson and Gonzalez as members of The RoundTable, an elite group of the top 100 civil plaintiff and criminal defense attorneys in the U.S. The Colson Hicks Eidson partners were two of only eight South Florida lawyers – and eleven lawyers from the State of Florida – selected to the prestigious list among the nation’s elite.
Selection to The Roundtable is based on extraordinary success in the courtroom and in the legal profession, including trial results and influence in the legal community. The honorees were selected from a pool of thousands of nominees, which were assessed by an attorney-led research team.
The attorneys were recognized at the 2014 Trial Lawyers Summit and awards luncheon on January 20th at the Loews Miami Beach Hotel, in which Jeffrey Toobin, senior legal analyst for CNN and bestselling author, was the keynote speaker.
Eidson concentrates his practice on litigation, primarily in the fields of products liability, medical and legal malpractice, aviation, class action and multi-district litigation. He has tried more than 125 cases to jury verdict during his career and is best known for his work in some of the largest automotive recalls in U.S. history, including the Ford Pinto; Chrysler Minivan; Ford Explorer/Firestone tire tread litigation, in which he served as that national co-lead counsel; and most recently with Toyota, in which he was appointed to serve on plaintiff steering committee.
Eidson has volunteered on a multitude of professional boards, including serving as president of the American Association for Justice (formerly ATLA), president of the Dade County Trial Lawyers Association, and president of the Miami Chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates. Recently, he was installed as chairman of the American Association for Justice Foundation and was awarded the Florida Justice Association’s Al J. Cone Lifetime Achievement Award. Eidson endowed the renowned Emory Law School Kessler-Eidson Trial Technique Program and is a founding member of the Institute for Injury Reduction, a national organization dedicated to reducing injuries caused by defective products.
Gonzalez is board certified by the Florida Bar and the National Board of Trial Advocacy as a specialist in civil trial law and in business litigation law. He has earned a reputation as one of the leading trial lawyers in Florida and the country and has obtained 32 verdicts in excess of $1 million, including a $61 million award, the highest award in a Federal Tort Claims Act, as well as a $100 million settlement. He currently serves on two national plaintiff steering committees, including the PSC for the multi-district litigation surrounding the Deepwater Horizon BP oil spill and the PSC for the Chinese Drywall multi-district litigation. He was selected the first in the country to try a Chinese Drywall jury case resulting in a $2.4 million verdict. Gonzalez has held a myriad of prestigious leadership roles, including serving as governor of The Florida Bar, president of The Dade County Bar Association, and president of the Dade County Trial Lawyers Association. He is also a former member of the National Board of Trustees of The National Institute of Trial Advocacy (NITA) and the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA).