GERALD TONER is a defense lawyer concentrating in medical malpractice, product liability, and first party insurance liability. He has tried well over one hundred cases to a verdict over the past forty-plus years. He has formerly served on the Board of Directors of DRI (The Voice of the Defense Bar) and the Kentucky Defense Counsel. This past year, he was honored as the Kentucky Defense Counsel “Diplomat of the Year 2021.”  He currently serves on the Board of the Kentucky Pediatric Foundation, U of L Pediatric Endowment Foundation and the Kentucky Bench and Bar. He previously served as President of the Louisville Bar Association from 2018-2019. Gerry graduated from Harvard College, cum laude, and from Vanderbilt University Law School. His interests include softball, photography, and writing; his short stories have been published in Redbook, Saturday Evening Post, Ladies’ Home Journal and other national magazines and in four hard-cover volumes by Pelican Publishing & Butler Books. Gerry’s wife, Carol, is a former school teacher and recently retired professional caterer. He has two married children, Jennie and John, and a future POTUS in his granddaughter, Lydia Dilara Algin.

Professional Background

• Partner, O’Bryan, Brown, & Toner, Louisville, Kentucky, February 1992-present.
• Primary practice areas include the defense of cases involving medical malpractice, product liability, fire and property insurance, contractual disputes and general personal injury. Counselor in various matters involving conflict resolution.
• Attorney at law, Partner, Ogden Robertson & Marshall, Louisville, Kentucky, 1981-January 1992.
• Attorney at law, Associate, Stites, McElwain, & Fowler, Louisville, Kentucky, June 1975-February 1981.

Honors and Awards
AV Preeminent® Peer review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell®

2021 Diplomat Award, Kentucky Defense Counsel

The Best Lawyers in America© 2003-2025

Recognized in Best Lawyers in America© for work in the following areas:
Insurance Law
Litigation – Insurance
Medical Malpractice Law – Defendants
Personal Injury Litigation – Defendants
Professional Malpractice Law – Defendants

Named Lawyer of the Year by Best Lawyers in America©:
Personal Injury Litigation – Defendants (Louisville 2021)
Litigation-Insurance (Louisville 2017, 2019, 2025)
Professional Malpractice Law – Defendants (Louisville 2013, 2020, 2024)
Insurance Law (Louisville 2018)

Kentucky Super Lawyers®, 2007-2024

Recognized in Kentucky Super Lawyers®
Top 50 Attorneys in Kentucky 2007-2010, 2017-2018, 2020-2024
Top 10 Attorneys in Kentucky 2023

Louisville Magazine’s Best Lawyer and Top Lawyer, 2006-2016
Medical Malpractice-defense
Personal Injury
Insurance Law and Litigation Insurance
Professional Malpractice Law
Commercial Law
Products Liability

Educational Background
J.D. Vanderbilt University School of Law; Captain, Vanderbilt International Moot Court Team (JESSUP).
B.A. Harvard College, cum laude

Court Admissions
Supreme Court of Kentucky
United States District Court for Western District of Kentucky
United States District Court for Eastern District of Kentucky
United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit

Professional Memberships

Past President, Louisville Bar Association; Fellow, Litigation Counsel of America; Member (Invitation Only), Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel (FDCC); Chair, Kentucky Chapter of ABA Fellows (2016-2019); Board of Directors, Defense Research Institute (DRI), 2006-2009; Board of Directors and Vice President of the Kentucky Pediatric Foundation; Former Kentucky State Representative to the Defense Research Institute; 2002-2005; Kentucky Defense Counsel, Inc. (Board of Directors, 2000-2001); Defense Research Institute (Section on Medical Liability); Editor-In Chief, Kentucky Bench and Bar, 1992-1994; Louisville Bar Association (Chair, Litigation Section, 1994); American Bar Association (Tort and Insurance Practice Section); Kentucky Bar Association (House of Delegates 1992-present); Chairman of the Kentucky Oral History project of the Kentucky Bar Association; American Bar Association (Tort and Insurance Practice Section); Harvard-Radcliffe Club of Kentucky (President, 1989-1992); Jefferson County Medical Society (Committee on Medical-Legal Issues member of the Editorial Board since 1985); Involvement in various community/ charitable endeavors.

Publications
Jurisprudence Measured By Dissent, (co-author, Tracy S. Prewitt), Kentucky Bench and Bar, July, 1999; Trial by Jury: A Right Not Lightly Forsaken (co-author, David L. Place), Kentucky Bench and Bar, Spring, 1997; Why Expert Witness Work Might Just Be For You, OBG Management; Spring 1995, Three Cases That Shaped the Constitution, Kentucky Bench and Bar, Winter 1992; and In the Wake of Federal Kemper: First Party Claims for Bad Faith/Punitive Damages, Kentucky Bench and Bar, Summer 1986. Editor- In-Chief, Kentucky Bench and Bar, 1992-1994; member of the Editorial Board since 1985. Additional accomplishments include having authored and published a novel and two collections of short stories and fiction, many previously published in national magazines including The Saturday Evening Post, Redbook and Ladies Home Journal.

Presentations
Depositions 101:  Deposition Horror Stories and How to Prevent Them, KDC Seminar, Fall 2021; Panel Discussion on Legal Writing, KBA Convention, 2015; Seminar Presentation to Medical Practice Office Managers, Risk Management Issues, March, 2001; Working Towards Optimal Care Symposium 2000, Louisville, Kentucky, September 2000; Litigation Seminar for Legal Secretaries and Legal Assistants, Continuing Legal Education, Louisville, Kentucky, May, 1996; Birth Injury and The Law II, Medical Intelligence Corporation, Las Vegas, Nevada, November, 1995; Trying the Soft Tissue Injury Case, National Business Institute, Inc., Louisville, Kentucky, December, 1994.

Webinars
Depositions 301:  Deposition Horror Stories and How to Prevent Them, KDC Seminar, Spring 2022; FDCC Business of Law Seminar, Fall 2021.

Publications-Non-Fiction
Editor-in-Chief, Interviewer, Founder & Chair of KBA Oral History Project culminating in: Kentucky Lawyers Speak, Oral History From Those Who Lived It, 2009.

In the Wake of Federal Kemper: First Party Claims for Bad Faith/Punitive Damages, Kentucky Bench & Bar, Summer 1986.

Three Cases That Shaped Kentucky’s History, (Co-author Ellen Cox Call), Kentucky Bench & Bar, Winter 1992.

Why Expert Witness Work Might Just Be For You, OBG Management, Spring 1995.

Trial by Jury: A Right Not Lightly Forsaken, (Co-author David L. Place), Kentucky Bench & Bar, Spring 1997.

Jurisprudence Measured By Dissent, (Co-author, Tracy S. Prewitt), Kentucky Bench & Bar, July, 1999.

Do Appellate Court Decisions Affect Health Care Costs? (Co-author Brent T. Asseff), Kentucky Bench & Bar, May, 2011.

A Studied Approach to Malpractice Tort Reform: Long Overdue, (Co-author Stephanie L. Caldwell), Kentucky Bench & Bar, September, 2014.

Publications-Fiction
Lipstick Like Lindsay’s and Other Christmas Stories, Gretna, Louisiana, Pelican Publishing Company, 1990.

Whittlesworth Comes To Christmas, Gretna, Louisiana, Pelican Publishing Company, 1991.

Holly Day’s Café and Other Christmas Stories, Gretna, Louisiana, Pelican Publishing Company, 1996.

The Christmas Turkeys and Other Misadventures of the Season, Louisville, Kentucky, Butler Books, 2010.

“The Christmas Visitation”, Saturday Evening Post, December 1986.

“Caroling On Command” Saturday Evening Post, December 1987.

“Mansfield” The Louisville Review, 10th Anniversary Issue.

“A Christmas Promise”, Redbook (Under the pseudonym Michael Mach. Later published under the author’s name with its original title, “Lipstick Like Lindsay’s”), December 1988.

“Benefit Of The Bargain”, Saturday Evening Post, December 1988.

“Christmas By Father”, Bluegrass Magazine, December 1989. (Later published in the collected stories: Lipstick Like Lindsay’s and Other Christmas Stories as “My Dad’s Idea of Christmas”).

“Remember The Oranges”, Ladies’ Home Journal, December 1990.

“Short’s Story”, The Louisville Courier-Journal, December 1990.