Gerald D W North

I was a nationally recognized antitrust lawyer when I retired in 1996 at age 45. Major cases included:

• The government and private antitrust litigation against AT&T that led to MCI’s $1.8 billion judgment in 1980 (reversed on appeal) and AT&T's breakup in 1984;

• The antitrust litigation between Ohio-Sealy Mattress Co. and Sealy, Inc. that led to Ohio-Sealy's near-total acquisition of Sealy in 1987, and its sale for nearly $1 billion in 1989; 

• The patent/antitrust litigation between W.L. Gore & Associates and IMPRA that led to invalidation of the Gore-Tex patent in 1990 (though previously upheld), settlement of IMPRA’s antitrust claims in 1993, and C.R. Bard's acquisition of IMPRA for over $143 million in 1996;

• The S&L crisis-born litigation against Craig Hall/Hall Financial, then the largest apartment syndicator in the U.S., that led to a seven-figure jury verdict against Hall, a personal bankruptcy filing in 1992, and a settlement with RTC for over $102 million in 1993;

• The multi-district antitrust class action against Ticor Title and other major title insurers over price-fixing title insurance search and examination fees, that led to a $106 million settlement in 1995 on remand after argument in the US Supreme Court;

• The multi-national litigation between Datascope and 28-month-old Mintec over rights to the patent for the pioneer nitinol stent (for abdominal aortic aneurysm repair) that led to settlement in on Scientific’s acquisition of Mintec for $72 million in 1996.

I resumed practice in 2003 to represent the original inventor of mobile point-of-sale (later commercialized by Square/Block) but began to transition to investment banking in 2006, serving as an outside director, advisor, or senior executive in several early-stage companies. From early 2011 through late 2012, I serially served as Chief Administrative Officer, Interim President, and Vice Chairman of a troubled Silicon Valley information technology company, and currently serve as corporate secretary, and a senior advisor, to the company that took over its technology.  I offer representation in the U.S. Supreme Court and occasionally undertake complex federal litigation (one case at a time), both on a partial contingency basis.