Gillespie, Shields & Durrant

Civil and Commercial Litigation

For business clients, Gillespie, Shields and Associates provides services in connection with both alternative dispute resolution and litigation for civil claims. Some of the issues we regularly handle are business torts, construction matters, contract interpretation, real estate, and other common civil litigation issues. We have experience in litigating unique, sophisticated matters, including construction industry issues, intellectual property rights, intra-company disputes, officer/director liability questions and real property issues. For purposes of preventing future litigation, our civil trial lawyers are often contacted by our transactional attorneys during the formative stages of projects. We continue to aggressively represent the interests of our clients once the decision to litigate has been made.

Practice Areas

• Appellate Practice
• Arbitration
• Banking
• Breach of Conract
• Business Dissolution
• Civil Litigation
• Commercial Litigation
• Condemnation/Eminent Domain
• Construction
• Criminal Investigations, Litigation and Defense
• Director and Officer Liability
• Employment
• Environmental
• Family Law
• Financial Services/Default Servicing
• Forcible Entry and Detainer
• Foreclosures/Trustee Sale
• Fraud and Misrepresentation
• Franchising
• Insurance/bad faith
• Intellectual Property, copyrights, patents, trademarks, tradenames
• Intra-company Disputes
• Labor
• Landlord/ Tenant/ Leases
• Limited Liability Companies
• Mediation
• Medical malpractice
• Nursing Home/ Elder abuse
• Partnerships
• Personal injury
• Product liability
• Premises liability
• Professional liability
• Probate Administration and Litigation
• Real Estate, Estate Valuation and title insurance

Our trial lawyers have handled a wide variety of cases for numerous clients, including:

1. Represented U-Haul Co. in a false advertising case in Federal Court under a Federal Statute called the Lanham Act.  The verdict and judgment of more than $40 million is the largest verdict in the history of the Lanham Act which was adopted in 1946.
2. Represented the developer and interim lender against Prudential Insurance Co. because Prudential refused to fund its commitment for permanent financing of the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Phoenix, AZ.  The judgment against Prudential was in excess of $10 million.  Prudential's appeal was not successful, but resulted in the longest opinion (70 pages) of appellate courts in Arizona. United Cal. Bank v. Prudential Ins. Co. 140 Ariz. 238, 390 P.2d 390 (1983).
3. Stopped the United States Government from putting into operation a large factory to manufacture tortillas because it would destroy the small businesses of dozens of local "mom & pop" tortilla manufacturers.
4. Represented the property owner in Land Condemnation case involving the freeway through Arrowhead Ranch in North Glendale, Arizona, resulting in the largest award for any land owner in the entire Arrowhead Ranch development.
5. Represented mother of baby that died before birth because of neglect on the part of hospital staff refusing to read the monitor tape showing that the baby was in severe distress.
6. Represented clients in injury cases from slip and fall in stores and shopping centers, to intersection collisions, freeway crashes, fall from scaffolding, fights in bars.
7. Represented local steel fence manufacturer in successful claim against large national steel supply company for misrepresenting steel quality and thickness.
8. Represented plaintiffs and defendants, including multi-state retail store client in employment and wrongful termination cases.

Litigation, Mediation & Arbitration

The lawyers at Gillespie, Shields & Durrant handle mediation & arbitration matters for clients throughout Phoenix & surrounding areas of Arizona. To view more information about these topics, visit our Phoenix Mediation Lawyer Website.