Smith Duggan Cornell & Gollub LLP Law Firm

Lincoln

617.228.4400

Boston

617.228.4400

Menu
close

Get in touch with us

To See If You Would benefit from a tax assessment
Contact Us

BIOGRAPHY

A litigator with over 40 years of experience, Rod has conducted litigations in federal and state courts throughout the country.

He concentrates in transportation, travel and tour operator law, recreation law, commercial litigation, employer/employee relations including EEOC and state administrative issues, intellectual property, and general corporate counseling.

As a nationally recognized expert in transportation and travel law, he routinely counsels travel-related entities throughout the world, and has served as an expert witness in numerous cases.

Most recently, he co-authored a major treatise, Litigating International Torts in U.S. Courts, (West 2013-2023).

Rod is the author of many articles and regularly gives speeches to travel associations and other trade groups.  He has taught various courses at several New England law schools and was selected as a Massachusetts Super Lawyer in Boston Magazine.

In recent years, Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly has featured Rod in numerous articles about his practice and his cases.

AWARDS

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

  • Secured the pretrial dismissal of a federal lawsuit against the firm’s clients, a travel agent that scheduled a European vacation and the tour operator that organized the excursion.
  • Successfully argued and won a reversal on appeal of a trial justice’s order denying a camp operator’s petition to compel arbitration pending further discovery.
  • Successfully argued and won a reversal on appeal of a federal district court's dismissal of petition to compel arbitration in a case arising from the death of a participant in a hike up to Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania.
  • Secured the pretrial dismissal of a federal lawsuit against a tour operator that arranged an excursion to the Inca ruins at Machu Picchu, Peru. During the course of her visit, the plaintiff fell down several plateaus, suffering serious injuries.
  • Successfully argued before the Supreme Court of Florida that a parent not only had the authority to enter into a contract with a travel agency on behalf of her minor child but that the arbitration provision contained therein was taking valid and enforceable. The case involved the death of an eleven-year-old boy who took an African safari with his mother, and was killed by a hyena while there.
  • Obtained the dismissal of a lawsuit alleging negligence in the repair, maintenance and replacement of a bicycle when the plaintiff was injured during a bicycling tour.
  • Secured rulings allowing a lawsuit for damages against the Palestine Liberation Organization with regard to the seizure of the vessel, the Achille Lauro to go forward despite the PLO’s claims of sovereign immunity. A successful settlement of our client’s claims against the PLO ended twelve years of litigation for the Klinghoffer family as well as for our client.

Education

J.D., magna cum laude, Columbia University, 1968
Editor of the Law Review
James Kent Scholar
International Fellow
Crown-Zellerbach Foundation Fellow
Stone Scholar
Moot Court Honors
B.A., cum laude, Colby College, 1965
Phi Beta Kappa
London School of Economics

Admissions

Bar Admissions
New Hampshire
California
Pennsylvania
District of Columbia
Massachusetts
New York
Court Admissions
Numerous U.S. District Courts throughout the country
U.S. Court of Appeals, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, D.C., and Federal Circuits
U.S. Supreme Court

Distinctions

Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent Peer Review Rating
Massachusetts Super Lawyer
The American Lawyer/Corporate Counsel Top Rated Lawyer
The National Law Journal Top Rated Lawyer

Affiliations

  • Dean, Southern New England School of Law, 1988-91
  • Adjunct Professor of Law, Western New England College School of Law, Springfield, MA; (Subject: Contemporary Problems in Mergers and Acquisitions; 1982-85)
  • Adjunct Professor of Law, Boston University School of Law, Boston, MA; (Subjects: Corporations, Securities Law; 1985-88)
  • Adjunct Professor of Law, Northeastern University School of Law, Boston, MA; (Subjects: Corporations, Securities Law; Antitrust; Mergers & Acquisitions) 2001; 1985-91

Community

Director, Mass. Audubon Society
Museum of Fine Arts – Visiting Committee (Contemporary Art) 2008-Present

Articles by Rodney

WORK WITH Rodney

You can complete a brief questionnaire, and we will respond promptly
envelope linkedin facebook pinterest youtube rss twitter instagram facebook-blank rss-blank linkedin-blank pinterest youtube twitter instagram