Benjamin E. "Ben" Gordon

Ben Gordon is Senior Counsel, and a member of Horn Williamson’s Construction Defect and Commercial Construction Practice Groups. Ben is a seasoned commercial litigator, with significant first- and second-chair trial experience in state and federal courts across the country, as well as in private forums. Ben maintains a diverse practice, which cuts across various sectors, but he has a particular focus on construction litigation. Ben also has significant experience in consumer finance litigation, insurance coverage and defense litigation, toxic tort and products liability litigation, and alternative dispute resolution.

Ben maintains an active pro bono practice, and is the Board Secretary of Philadelphia VIP, an organization that, every year, pairs hundreds of pro bono clients with volunteer lawyers. Ben regularly sits as a sworn arbitrator in both private (the American Arbitration Association) and public/compulsory (the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas) forums, and has presided over dozens of hearings on a wide variety of issues.

While attending law school, Ben tried cases for the Defender Association of Philadelphia and the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office. He received numerous awards for his trial advocacy, oral advocacy and negotiation skills. Ben served as a staff member on the Temple International & Comparative Law Journal and was a fellow in the Rubin Public Interest Law Honor Society. He also clerked for a Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas Judge. Ben lives in Philadelphia with his wife and two young daughters.

SELECTED RESULTS

• first-chair trial counsel in a contentious dispute under the Pennsylvania Contractor and Subcontractor Payment Act (CASPA) representing a project owner and obtained a complete non-suit of a preconstruction services provider’s CASPA claim at trial.
• second-chair trial counsel in successful defense of petition for injunctive relief following four-day hearing in which neighboring commercial property owners sought to halt a $350 million construction project.
• obtained complete dismissal, with prejudice, on behalf of a surety in a case that concerned a significant performance bond claim on the grounds that the project owner failed to afford the contractor the right to attempt to cure its alleged construction shortcomings.
• successfully defended a large municipal entity against claims from a contractor related to a failed, seven-figure utilities project while simultaneously successfully prosecuting significant affirmative claims against the project’s design professional.
• second-chair trial counsel in successful defense of global insurer in complex, hybrid insurance coverage/tortious interference claim alleging in excess of $25 million in damages and resulting in a complete defense verdict, which was affirmed on appeal.
• first-chair trial counsel in successful prosecution of breach of lease action on behalf of shelter for women and children against landlord, which did not provide numerous agreed-upon punch-list items promised in lease negotiations.