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.

This year, as well as in 2007, 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.

• 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 of 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.
• O’Harren v. McDonnell Douglas, et al. — Mr. Rushing served as lead trial counsel for Boeing, Sherwin-Williams, and Guardian Chemicals in a six month jury trial in San Diego Superior Court leading to favorable verdicts for the defendants. The case involved a claim by a PSA pilot of exposure to chemicals from the rain repellant system of a McDonnell Douglas MD-80 aircraft.
• U.S. v. Stringfellow — Mr. Rushing served as lead underwriter’s counsel for insurers of the State of California in a CERCLA case to determine whether the state would be held liable in part for the cleanup of the Stringfellow waste disposal site. The case was tried over a two month period to a jury in Los Angeles federal court. Mr. Rushing assisted the State Attorney General’s Office in presenting evidence at the trial, arguing all motions, and designing the defense strategy for the case.