Contact Information

Gordon S. Rather, Jr.
Phone:  501-212-1267 
Fax: 501-376-9442
Email: grather@wlj.com

Print Biography

Attorney

Gordon S. Rather, Jr.
Present Position: Partner. Chair of Trial Section.

Biographical Information

Practice Areas: Gordon Rather leads Arkansas? top trial practice defending matters for clients like Blue Cross, Entergy Arkansas, Baptist Health, Lion Oil and the Chubb Group of Insurance Companies. His practice centers on litigation, including complex commercial issues, products liability, toxic tort, and admiralty and maritime matters.

Admitted to Practice: Arkansas 1968; United States District Courts for the Eastern and Western Districts of Arkansas; United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit; United States Supreme Court.

Born: Little Rock, Arkansas.

Education: A 1968 graduate of the Duke University School of Law, Mr. Rather has been engaged in active trial practice for 40 years. He received his B.A. cum laude from Vanderbilt University and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa.

Professional Affiliations: Mr. Rather served as National President of the American Board of Trial Advocates in 1996, is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, and is a Fellow and State Chair of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers.

A member of the Board of Directors of the American Board of Trial Advocates since 1989, Mr. Rather was president of the Arkansas Chapter from 1987 to 1988. He is a member of the Arkansas Association of Defense Counsel and a Proctor in the Maritime Law Association of the United States.

Mr. Rather is a member of the American Bar Association, the Arkansas Bar Association, and the Pulaski County Bar Association. He is also a Fellow of the Arkansas Bar Foundation and a member of the Arkansas Chapter of the Fellows of the American Bar Foundation.

Related Professional Experience: Mr. Rather has served as a faculty member in numerous trial advocacy programs throughout the United States including the ABA Trial Academy conducted at the National Judicial College.

Honors: He has been recognized by The Best Lawyers in America from 1999 to 2010, Chambers USA, America?s Leading Lawyers for Business from 2004 to 2009, The Lawdragon 500 Leading Lawyers in America, The Lawdragon 500 Leading Litigators in America, and Mid-South Super Lawyers. Mr. Rather received the 2000 Outstanding Lawyer Award from the Pulaski County Bar Association and the 2006 Outstanding Lawyer Award from the Arkansas Bar Association. In 1994 he received the Masters in Trial Award from the American Board of Trial Advocates for his participation in ABOTA?s nationwide jury trial demonstration program.

Lawdragon Reviews         

The former US Navy officer captains Arkansas' top trial practice, defending uniquely complex commercial matters for clients like Blue Cross, Entergy Arkansas and Baptist Health.

                                                                                                ? Lawdragon, January 2008

Corporate clients such as Lion Oil Co. know his down-home charm camouflages a steel-trap legal mind.

                                                                                                ? Lawdragon, October 2006

Veteran litigator Gordon Rather is the Natural State's top defense lawyer, naturally. Many consider him the top defense lawyer for Arkansas business on product liability and toxic tort cases.

                                                                                                ? Lawdragon, October 2005