Robert J. Nelson

Partner

San Francisco

Practice Areas: Personal Injury/Torts, Defective Products, Securities and Financial, International and Human Rights, Qui Tam

Bar Information

Admitted to bar, 1987, California; 1987, U.S. District Court, Central District of California; 1988, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California; 1988, U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit; 1995, U.S. Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit; 1998, District of Columbia; 1999, New York; 2001, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York, Southern District of New York; U.S. District Court, Eastern District of California, 2006.

Education

N.Y.U. School of Law (J.D., 1987): Order of the Coif, Articles Editor, New York University Law Review; Root-Tilden Scholarship Program; Cornell University (A.B., cum laude 1982): Phi Beta Kappa, College Scholar Honors Program; London School of Economics (General Course, 1980-81): Graded First.

Prior Employment

Law Clerk to Judge Stephen Reinhardt, U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit, 1987-88; Assistant Federal Public Defender, Northern District of California, 1988-93; Legal Research and Writing Instructor, University of California-Hastings College of the Law, 1989-91 (part-time position).

Awards

"California Lawyer Attorney of the Year (CLAY) Award," California Lawyer (2008, 2010); "Northern California Super Lawyer," Law & Politics, 2004-2009; "Consumer Attorney of the Year Finalist", Consumer Attorneys of California, 2007; "San Francisco Trial Lawyer of the Year Finalist," San Francisco Trial Lawyers' Association, 2007.

Publications

"Class Action Treatment of Punitive Damages Issues after Philip Morris v. Williams: We Can Get There from Here," 2 Charleston Law Review 2 (Spring 2008) (with Elizabeth Cabraser); Contributing Author, California Class Actions Practice and Procedures (Elizabeth J. Cabraser, Editor-in-Chief, 2003); "The Importance of Privilege Logs," The Practical Litigator, Vol. II, No. 2 (March 2000) (ALI-ABA Pub.); "To Infer or Not to Infer a Discriminatory Purpose: Rethinking Equal Protection Doctrine," 61 New York University Law Review 334 (1986).

Member

State Bar of California; Bar of the District of Columbia; State Bar of New York; Bar Association of San Francisco; American Association for Justice; American Bar Association; Consumer Attorneys of California; San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association.