Cornelia J. B. Gordon is an experienced litigator who has represented individuals, corporations, and court-appointed receivers and monitors in a variety of matters.  Her practices focuses on government and internal investigations, complex civil litigation, and white-collar criminal defense.  She has represented clients in investigations and civil and criminal matters brought by the Department of Justice, the Federal Reserve Bank, and other state and federal agencies.  Ms. Gordon has also represented receivers and monitors in actions brought by the Federal Trade Commission, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, among others.

Prior to joining McNamara Smith LLP as a partner, Ms. Gordon practiced at Scott+Scott Attorneys at Law LLP as a senior associate.  While at Scott+Scott, she focused on representing plaintiffs in nationwide complex securities class actions, with multiple cases resulting in recoveries for the plaintiff classes.  Earlier in her career, she worked at Sullivan & Cromwell LLP in New York City representing defendants in government investigations.

A San Diego native, Ms. Gordon also serves as local counsel in the Southern District of California for complex civil litigation matters, including intellectual property, antitrust, and securities litigation.

Judicial Clerkships

  • Robin L. Rosenberg, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida

Education

  • Duke University School of Law (J.D.)
  • Centre College (B.A.), summa cum laude

Representative Matters

Representative government and internal investigation and criminal defense experience includes:

  • Representing an individual officer of a medical billing company in a state criminal investigation into the company’s billing practices;
  • Representing an officer of a charter school organization in a criminal case charging conspiracy to commit multiple crimes, including theft of public funds;
  • Representing a research university in an internal investigation conducted in response to a Department of Justice Civil Investigative Demand; and
  • Representing a publicly-traded tech company in an internal investigation of its sales practices.

Representative civil litigation experience includes:

  • Representing former Mexican government employees in U.S. civil lawsuit brought by private arm of state-owned electric utility, alleging breaches of fiduciary duty and contract;
  • Representing national bank in suit alleging bank aided and abetted fraud;
  • Representing plaintiffs in securities class actions brought against publicly-traded companies in various jurisdictions, resulting in multiple eight-figure settlements; and
  • Representing individuals in response to DOJ subpoenas for records and testimony.

Representative monitorship and receivership experience includes:

  • Representing receivers and monitors in comprehensive investigations of businesses in receiverships or monitorships in matters brought by the Federal Trade Commission, Securities and Exchange Commission, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation;
  • Representing receivers in asset discovery and collection efforts, including through motion practice, the filing of clawback actions, and pre-litigation settlements; and
  • Representing plaintiff receiver in action brought against a multi-national bank for aiding and abetting massive consumer fraud, resulting in eight-figure settlement for the benefit of consumers.