Gilbert, Scott D.

Firm chairman and co-founder Scott Gilbert brings thirty-plus years of high-profile experience and innovation in complex multiparty dispute resolution to Gilbert LLP.  Often at the forefront of cutting edge initiatives, settlements and litigation involving insurance, products liability, commercial torts and bankruptcy, he has represented clients in a wide variety of complex disputes ranging from tens of millions to billions of dollars. 

Scott’s strong leadership and unique legal strategies have been demonstrated repeatedly when tackling highly controversial issues such as asbestos, silica, IUDs, breast implants, heart valves, pharmaceuticals, natural disasters and environmental contamination, as well as commercial fraud and management and professional liability.

As a partner at Dickstein Shapiro Morin & Oshinsky LLP in Washington, D.C., from 1997-2000, Scott headed its Complex Dispute Resolution Group and was a member of the firm's Executive Committee.  He previously led the Complex Dispute Resolution Group at Covington & Burling in Washington, which he joined in 1979 and where he became a partner in 1987.

An internationally recognized innovator in the field of strategic ADR, Scott has crafted creative and workable solutions to some of the most complex legal challenges in mass torts.  For example, he has served as:

• the primary policyholder negotiator and drafter of the Wellington Agreement, one of the largest insurance settlements in US history

• the founder of and counsel to the Center for Claims Resolution

• the primary insurance negotiator and strategist for numerous mass tort defendants, as well as bankruptcy trusts, bankruptcy claimant committees, and groups of individual tort claimants.

Scott also has served as:

• an expert witness in litigation and in insurance arbitrations in the United States and England

• a mediator in complex commercial disputes and an arbitrator in American Arbitration Association (AAA) proceedings

• an adjunct professor at the University of Chicago Law School and Duke University Law School, where he presently teaches Legal Strategy and Insurance Law.