Randolph Gaw is an experienced trial and appellate litigator who has been practicing since he graduated from Stanford Law School in 2002 with his co-founder Mark Poe. From the time he co-founded Gaw | Poe LLP back in 2014, he has been a first or second-chair of at least ten different trials and arbitrations and has obtained verdicts, judgments, or arbitration awards in those matters valued at over $60 million. He has also been appellate counsel of record on eleven appeals and writ petitions to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals or the California Court of Appeal and prevailed in most of them. He has also obtained settlements for his clients in excess of $30 million.
Prior to co-founding Gaw | Poe LLP, Mr. Gaw spent more than ten years of litigation practice at international law firms O’Melveny & Myers and Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati. While at O’Melveny & Myers, he was counsel of record on two winning trial teams for an 11-month bench trial in San Diego County Superior Court (a successful defense of a $200 million breach of fiduciary duty case) and a 5-week jury trial in federal court (a successful defense of a $1.6 billion trade secrets case). He also argued before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals twice and was counsel of record for Ford Motor Company on a successful Ohio state court appeal that overturned a $2 billion jury verdict. While at Wilson Sonsini, he was a member of numerous teams that successfully defended corporations against securities fraud class action lawsuits, helped a leading investment bank achieve complete victory following an arbitration of a $30 million claim brought by a disgruntled investor, helped obtain a $30+ million settlement for an individual client against a leading private equity firm, and spent a year on assignment in New York City helping the firm open its litigation practice in that office.
Mr. Gaw has been named a Fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America, a trial lawyer honorary society where fellowship is by invitation only and is limited to less than one-half of one percent of American lawyers. Mr. Gaw was also recognized as a Super Lawyer™ for Northern California in 2018-2022, and as a Rising Star™ for Northern California for 2016 and 2017, by Super Lawyers magazine. While at Stanford Law School, Mr. Gaw was a member of the winning team in the moot court competition and also won the award for giving the best individual oral argument. Before attending Stanford, Mr. Gaw graduated from U.C. Berkeley with high distinction (magna cum laude) with a degree in political science and economics.
Mr. Gaw represents both plaintiffs and defendants in civil litigation. He practices in the fields of complex commercial litigation, antitrust litigation, catastrophic injury litigation, trade secrets litigation, class actions, and employment litigation.
Stanford Law School, J.D., 2002
Best Individual Oral Argument & Best Team awards, Stanford Law School Moot Court Competition
Senior Editor, Stanford Journal of Law, Business, and Finance
University of California at Berkeley, B.A., Economics and Political Science
Graduated with high honors
Phi Beta Kappa
Student Advocate, Associated Students of the University of California
Admitted, California; US District Court, Northern, Central, Southern and Eastern Districts of California; US Courts of Appeals, Ninth Circuit; United States Supreme Court
Member, San Francisco Bar Association
Member, National Asian-Pacific American Bar Association
Member, American Bar Association
Fellow, Litigation Counsel of America
2018-2020 Northern California Super Lawyer, Super Lawyers™
2016, 2017 Northern California Rising Star, Super Lawyers™