Bob (Robert) Mitchell
Bob is a veteran litigator and trial lawyer. He has substantial experience in complex
litigation including federal multi-district litigation (MDL) and class action matters. He
represented the Reinsurance Association of America in an antitrust action that reached
the U.S. Supreme Court that ruled that reinsurance is indeed insurance and therefore not
subject to the Sherman Antitrust Act. He was National Counsel for Baxter Healthcare and
Cardinal Healthcare in In Re Latex Glove Litigation MDL 1148, convened in the Eastern
District of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia) and the related Coordinated California state cases
in San Diego. The latex glove litigation involved approximately 4,000 cases across the
country. The litigation ultimately settled after several defense trial victories, including a
successful JNOV motion reversing a Plaintiff jury verdict in San Diego.
There was a concurrent regulatory effort in the EU to ban natural rubber latex gloves. On
short notice, Bob attended a meeting of the Medical Directorate of the EU and persuaded
them to study the issue because of the risk to healthcare workers of such a ban. Bob
regularly returned to such meetings. Latex gloves were never banned in Europe.
After the latex glove battles, Bob joined a talented Boutique firm in Grass Valley, California
where his firm represented plaintiffs and defendants in a wide variety of civil matters. Bob
and wife Kathy were drawn back to the Bay Area when two of their children (and more
importantly, their children’s children), returned to the east Bay. He is very happy for the
opportunity to work at SH&L.
Bob and Kathy are native Utahns and have often traveled “home” for skiing and family
visits.
Bob is a graduate Cum Laude from the University of Utah and has an MBA from UCLA. He
graduated Order of the Coif from USC’s Gould School of Law where he was also on the
editorial board of the Southern California Law Review. Bob was admitted to the State Bar of
Georgia and practiced at Alston & Bird in Atlanta for 10 years, He has been admitted pro
hace vice in a dozen additional states. He is admitted to all four U.S. District Courts in
California.
