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Gordon W. Schmidt
Partner 
EQT Plaza
gschmidt@mcguirewoods.com625 Liberty Avenue, 23rd Floor Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15222-3142 F: 412.667.7955    |
Mr. Schmidt has litigated a variety of complex commercial cases at trial and appellate levels in state and federal courts. His experience includes breach of contract claims, contract interpretation issues, antitrust, securities law class actions and shareholder derivative actions.
Additionally, he has a great deal of experience with franchise and distribution issues, having represented national franchisors in numerous lawsuits. He has also litigated trademark infringement claims and trade secret issues. He also has substantial experience involving wrongful termination cases and employment cases. He has litigated matters in more than 15 states, and has argued before the 3rd, 4th and 10th U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeals.
- Mr. Schmidt recently acted as counsel to the managing trustee of a national asbestos trust that was created during the bankruptcy of a large manufacturing concern in order to handle asbestos claims against the company. The trust is responsible for accumulating funds from insurance carriers to be disbursed to claimants against the fund.
- Mr. Schmidt recently settled a coverage lawsuit on behalf of a client in which the carrier settled the suit by paying 100 percent of claim.
- Represented a consortium of utilities when a supplier brought suit to modify or cancel a long-term supply contract for the supply of uranium. The suit involved the interpretation of regulations unique to utilities and uranium mining and their interplay with price escalation provisions in the contract.
- Represented a national restaurant franchisor that granted a regional development agreement to an entity that was not adequately developing its territory. Successfully litigated the claim that allowed the client to terminate the franchise agreement.
- Represented a national franchisor in three class actions brought by franchisees claiming, among other things, breach of contract, antitrust violations and breach of duty of good faith. The suits were consolidated and settled, paving the way for better relations between the company and its franchisees.
- On behalf of a German client, won an injunction to stop an industrial products company that began manufacturing and marketing a form of robotics that incorporated our client's technology.
- Represented a national chain of diet centers whose franchisees were purchasing unapproved products. Obtained an injunction to prohibit the distribution of these products within the client's system, and obtained a multimillion-dollar judgment against the manufacturer.
- Commercial Litigation
- Labor & Employment
- Product & Consumer Litigation
- Products Liability
- Hospitality & Resorts
- Class Action Litigation
- Franchise & Distribution
- Insurance Coverage
- Energy Litigation
- Partner, Doepken Keevican & Weiss, PC, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1990-2002
- System Standards - What's A Franchisor To Do
- American Law Institute
- Board Member, Pittsburgh Opera
- March of Dimes Golf Classic (prior board member)
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EDUCATION University of Pittsburgh School of Law, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, J.D., 1975 Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York, B.A., 1972 FRATERNITIES OR SORORITIES Delta Upsilon ADMITTED Pennsylvania 1975 Ohio 2000 (Inactive) PLACE OF BIRTH Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania |