Olson, Robert A.

Bob Olson joined GMSR in 1987 and became a partner in 1994.

He graduated from Stanford University (with distinction) and from Stanford Law School (Order of the Coif). During law school, he served as an extern for the Honorable David L. Bazelon, United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia and, after law school, clerked for the Honorable Anthony Kennedy, then sitting on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, now an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court.

Bob has briefed, argued, and won scores of appeals in both California and federal courts, including the California Supreme Court. His experience includes appellate briefs and oral arguments, petitions for extraordinary writs, amicus briefs, and petitions for review and certiorari, as well as related law and motion (e.g., motions for summary judgment, jury instructions, post-trial motions) in trial courts. He also provides insurance coverage advice to both carriers and insureds.

He is an officer of the California Academy of Appellate Lawyers and is a Certified Specialist in Appellate Law, State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization. He has taught appellate advocacy as an adjunct professor at Loyola Law School and has acted as a volunteer mediator for the California Court of Appeal, Second District. He serves on the Appellate Courts Committee of the Los Angeles Bar Association and is an officer of the Association of Southern California Defense Counsel routinely participating in its amicus committee. Substantively, he has briefed and argued issues covering the breadth of civil law including general contract and tort issues, insurance coverage and insurance bad faith, enforcement of arbitration, medical and legal malpractice, employment discrimination and wrongful termination, malicious prosecution, products liability, agency termination, punitive damages, marital dissolution, partnership dissolution, easement and real property disputes, landowner liability, fraud, unfair business practices, antitrust, defamation, copyright, police misconduct, anti-SLAPP liability, and maritime wrongful death.

Besides his brief writing, Bob is a regular legal commentator, having authored numerous articles, and for more than 15 years has co-presented The Year in Review: A Summary of Recent Cases, at the Association of Southern California Defense Counsel Annual Seminar.