Mr. Rushing is a trial lawyer. His practice focuses on aviation, product liability, toxic tort, and general business litigation.

Mr. Rushing is a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates, a Certified Civil Trial Advocate of the National Board of Trial Advocacy, a faculty member of the National Institute of Trial Advocacy, a Sustaining Member of the Product Liability Advisory Council, a member of the International Association of Defense Counsel, and a Master in the Louis M. Welsh Chapter of the American Inns of Court. He serves on the board of advisors of the SMU Journal of Air Law & Commerce and as president of the board of directors of the Legal Aid Society of San Diego. Mr. Rushing is also a private pilot.

For the second year in a row, Mr. Rushing has been listed in Legal 500 United States® as a leading lawyer in product liability and mass tort defense. He is also listed as a top aviation attorney in Expert Guides, the Legal Media Group guides to the world’s leading lawyers. Mr. Rushing was recognized by The Best Lawyers in America 2007® and 2008® in the fields of commercial litigation and product liability litigation, and was selected for inclusion in Southern California Super Lawyers 2007 in class action and mass tort litigation. In 2006, Mr. Rushing was selected as one of the Top 12 Corporate Litigation Attorneys in the San Diego Daily Transcript.

Prior to joining Morrison & Foerster, Mr. Rushing was a partner in the San Diego office of Gray Cary Ware & Freidenrich, where he served as managing partner of Gray, Cary, Ames & Frye from 1991 to 1993 and as chair of Gray Cary Ware & Freidenrich from 1994 to 1996. Mr. Rushing currently serves as co-chair of Morrison & Foerster’s Product Liability Group.

Mr. Rushing’s representative cases include:

• In Re: Air Crash near Peixoto de Azevedo, Brazil, on September 29, 2006 — Mr. Rushing represented Honeywell International Inc. in the trial following the mid-air collision between a Boeing 737-800 operated by GOL Airlines and an Embraer Legacy operated by ExcelAire Service over the Amazon jungle in September 2006 that claimed the lives of 154 persons. The more than 100 wrongful death cases filed in the United States have been transferred from seven different districts to multidistrict proceedings in the Eastern District of New York.
• U.S.A. ex rel. v. General Atomics — Mr. Rushing served as the lead trial lawyer for General Atomics in a False Claims Act case tried in San Diego federal court.  The case involved allegations by the government of profit pyramiding in certain contracts entered into with an affiliate alleged to be a related party under common control. Summary judgment on three counts was rendered in favor of General Atomics before trial.  After a two week trial, the Court entered a statement of decision rendering judgment in favor of General Atomics on all four remaining counts.
• In Re: Air Crash Off Point Mugu, California, on January 31, 2000 — Mr. Rushing represented Alaska Airlines as lead trial counsel in multi-district litigation involving wrongful death and survival claims by the heirs and estates of the 88 passengers and crew who perished in the crash of Alaska Airlines Flight 261 on January 31, 2000, near Point Mugu, California. Intensive fact and expert discovery led to a series of successful motions to remove punitive damages from the case, limit theories of recovery against the airline under the Warsaw Convention, stipulate to liability to remove potentially harmful evidence from the trials, and prepare and try damages claims.  Trial commenced in the MDL Court in June 2003, leading to settlements during trial for all but one of the cases.  The remaining case was settled before trial in the transferor court.
• Carver, et al. v. Uniroyal, Inc. — This series of cases was tried to a jury over a two month period in San Diego Superior Court.  These product liability cases involved a complex set of facts arising out of a single-vehicle accident in the Carlsbad, California, area in which the occupants of a pickup truck were seriously injured (one death, one quadriplegic and two other serious injuries) when the right rear tire lost tread, the driver lost control of the vehicle, the truck struck the center divider, and the occupants of the bed of the pickup were thrown over the center divider into oncoming traffic.  The case was bifurcated on liability and damages with all four consolidated cases being tried together on the issue of liability.  The jury made a finding of liability after a 30-day trial.  The case then proceeded to a complete trial of each of the four cases on the issue of damages.

Mr. Rushing has authored articles for several publications. His more recent publications include:

• Co-author with Sean Gates, “Coming to America: International Air Crash Litigation in the United States,” Proceedings of the 42nd Annual SMU Air Law Symposium, February 2008.
• Co-author with William Janicki, “Treatment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Claims Under the Warsaw Convention,” Journal of Air Law and Commerce, Vol. 70, No. 3, Summer 2005.
• Co-author with Linda Lane and Erin Bosman, “Anchors Away: Attacking the Suggestion of a Dollar Amount as Compensation for Non-Economic Damages in Closing,” IADC Defense Journal, Vol. 70, No. 3, July 2003.
• Co-author with James Shomper, Deborah Kuchler, and Chris Barbee, “Building the Virtual Law Firm Through Collaborative Work Teams,” ACCA Docket, Vol. 19, No. 9, October 2001.
• Co-author with Mary Lehman, “Use of Case Management Orders in Toxic Tort Litigation,” For the Defense, Vol. 41, No. 6, June 1999.  (Article was a winner of 2000 Burton Award for Legal Achievement.) 

Don Rushing received his B.S. degree from the United States Air Force Academy in 1970, his M.B.A. degree from the University of Southern California in 1973, and his J.D. degree from the University of California at Los Angeles School of Law in 1978 where he was a member of the UCLA Law Review editorial board.  From 1970 to 1975, Mr. Rushing served as a U.S. Air Force officer with the Space & Missile Systems Organization and Air Force Systems Command, procuring basic technology for aerospace applications and advanced ballistic reentry systems.

Mr. Rushing is admitted to practice in California, Colorado, and Texas.  He is also admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court; the United States Courts of Appeal for the Ninth and Tenth Circuits; and the United States District Courts for the Southern, Central, Northern, and Eastern Districts of California; the District of Colorado; and the Northern District of Texas.