Gordon L. Ankney

Partner

Direct (314) 552-6003

Fax (314) 552-7003

Overview
Affiliations
Clients
Honors
Noteworthy

Gordon focuses his practice on trial work of all types, including commercial, products liability and environmental defense litigation and white collar criminal defense. He has been involved in complex class action lawsuits and worked closely with litigation and computer support firms. Gordon is Chair of Thompson Coburn's Corporate Compliance, Investigation and Defense Group.

As a trial attorney, Gordon has tried over 200 jury trials as lead counsel. Over the past 25 years he has successfully represented corporate clients at trial in federal and state courts in Missouri, Illinois, Kansas, Iowa, Alabama, Maryland, Ohio and Pennsylvania. Gordon is the head of the firm's technology committee and has made extensive use of computers for trial preparation and courtroom presentation. He has lectured on trial advocacy, search responses, defense of environmental crimes and the use of computers in the courtroom.

Prior to joining Thompson Coburn, Gordon was appointed a special prosecutor on many notable cases throughout Missouri. In 1982 he was recognized as Missouri's Outstanding Prosecutor of the Year by the Missouri Association of Prosecuting Attorneys.

The Missouri Bar Association
American Bar Association: White Collar Criminal Section
Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis

Sigma-Aldrich

Federal Signal

Chrysler

BNSF Railway

Charter Communications

Continental Grain

Pillsbury

Selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America® 2012 (Copyright 2011 by Woodward/White, Inc., of Aiken, S.C.): Commercial Litigation and White Collar Defense
Chambers USA 2010, Band 1: Identified as a “Key Individual” in the State of Missouri, practicing in white collar crime and government investigations
Missouri & Kansas Super Lawyers® 2011

Gordon served as lead trial counsel and obtained defense verdicts for firm client Federal Signal in the trial of nine products liability cases brought by Philadelphia firefighters. Plaintiffs claimed Federal Signal sirens were defectively designed, causing them hearing loss. More than 3,500 such cases are pending in Philadelphia and Chicago. This was the fifth trial in the series and the first in which TC was primary counsel. The trial, which involved both strict liability and negligent design claims, lasted two weeks. The jury returned its verdict in less than two hours. (2010)

Gordon serves as lead trial counsel and has achieved a number of significant successes for Sigma-Aldrich in dealing with litigation related to the 2003 explosion at a chemical plant which damaged surrounding properties and forced an evacuation of over 3,000 nearby residents. A number of lawsuits were filed, including several class actions on behalf of the neighbors who resided within the evacuation zone. After a successful jury trial where the average award was under $200, plaintiffs appealed to the Ohio Supreme Court where Gordon argued the matter on behalf of the defense. The court agreed with Sigma-Aldrich in affirming the verdict, holding that residents were required to demonstrate physical discomfort in order to recover damages for annoyance and discomfort and cause of the explosion. Gordon was lead counsel in a second successful jury trial earlier this year. (2010 and 2011)

Gordon also served as lead trial counsel in defending an agribusiness owner of large hog farms in north Missouri against a multi-plaintiff lawsuit by 119 individuals claiming nuisance and personal injury from insects and odors associated with the farms. The firm won a favorable result at trial in the City of St. Louis. Approximately half of the plaintiffs received no award, while the remaining plaintiffs were awarded an amount well below the plaintiffs’ demand. This case was the longest trial in the history the City of St. Louis Circuit Court at the time. (1999)