Kevin R. Gardner has been representing clients in the federal and state courts for more than thirty years in complex corporate, commercial, construction and environmental litigation, class actions, product liability claims, employment restrictive covenant disputes, and trade secret litigation. Mr. Gardner has substantial experience handling crisis management issues for clients and coordinates the firm’s Emergency Response Team.

Mr. Gardner has served as lead counsel for clients in connection with catastrophic losses and mass litigation, notably the Port Elizabeth Warehouse Fire, the Texas Eastern Pipeline Explosion, and the Seton Hall University dormitory fire. He has also represented clients and served as court-appointed liaison counsel in mass product liability and environmental mass tort/MDL litigation.

Qualified as a mediator pursuant to Rule 1:40, Mr. Gardner has served as the mediator in more than 400 private and court-ordered mediations. He has also served as an arbitrator by court appointment in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey and as a fee arbitrator by designation of the New Jersey Supreme Court.

For 25 years, Mr. Gardner has served as an adjunct professor, first at Seton Hall University School of Law and, as of 2011, at Rutgers University Law School teaching "Crisis Management: The Legal Aspects of Crisis Planning, Response and Recovery” and "Civil Litigation Strategy and Practice." Mr. Gardner has also served as a lecturer at New York University’s Graduate School of Business on the mediation of employment and commercial disputes. He is also a faculty member of the National Institute for Trial Advocacy and a frequent lecturer on civil practice issues and other subjects for the New Jersey Institute for Continuing Legal Education, Defense Research Institute, The Rutgers Institute for Professional Education, the New Jersey Attorney General’s Advocacy Institute, and other organizations.

By appointment of the New Jersey Supreme Court, Mr. Gardner has served six terms as a member of the Supreme Court’s Civil Practice Committee. Since 2002, Mr. Gardner has been selected by his peers to be listed in Best Lawyers in America (Commercial Litigation). He has also been elected by his peers to be a Fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America.

While attending Seton Hall University School of Law, Mr. Gardner served as the Managing Editor of the Law Review. On graduation, he served as a law clerk to Hon. Robert L. Clifford, Associate Justice, Supreme Court of New Jersey. Mr. Gardner joined Connell Foley LLP in 1980.

Honors and Awards:

• "New York's Best Lawyers," Commercial Litigation (2013)
• "New Jersey's Top Rated Lawyers" as seen in Inside Jersey magazine (2012)
• Best Lawyers in America, Commercial Litigation (2003-2013)
• New Jersey Super Lawyers (2005, 2006, 2010-2013)
• Fellow, Litigation Counsel of America

Representative Experience:

• In Re Durham Woods Litigation. Counsel for pipeline company in natural gas transmission line explosion and fire that destroyed 228 apartment units, resulting in over 1200 lawsuits and claims, with respect to the civil litigation as well as the criminal, NTSB and OSHA investigations
• In Re Port Elizabeth Warehouse Fire Litigation. Counsel for public utility in $195 million fire litigation
• PPA Litigation. Counsel for pharmaceutical manufacturer in product liability class actions and 110 individual cases, court-appointed defense liaison counsel
• Seton Hall University Dormitory Fire. Counsel for University with respect to OSHA, regulatory and criminal investigations, as well as civil litigation arising from dormitory fire that resulted in multiple fatalities and dozens of injuries
• Passaic River Litigation. Counsel for public utility in Spill Act litigation regarding clean-up of the Passaic River
• Bergenfield Apartment Explosion and Fire. Counsel for utility in multiple fatality natural gas explosion, involving an apartment building
• Ultra Additives Chemical Plant Fire. Counsel for chemical company as to cause and origin, environmental and OSHA investigations, as well as insurance issues in connection with chemical plant fire
• Ford Edison Plant Litigation. Counsel to environmental consulting firm in investigation by Department of Environmental Protection and civil litigation arising from decommissioning of automobile assembly plant
• In Re PSE&G Derivative Shareholder Litigation, 320 N.J. Super. 112 (Ch. Div. 1998). Counsel for corporation in shareholder class action
• Geraci v. Gaitway Farm, Inc. Counsel for stable owner in barn fire that destroyed 21 standard bred racing horses with respect to civil litigation and insurance issues

Affiliations:

• American Bar Association
• New Jersey State Bar Association
• Essex County Bar Association
• International Association of Defense Counsel
• Defense Research Institute