Jonathan R. Gdanski
Attorney
Practice Areas:
A trial attorney with Schlesinger Law Offices, PA, Jonathan focuses his practice on complex civil trials with an emphasis on catastrophic personal injury, tobacco, and products liability cases. Jonathan has developed a national reputation as a high-level litigation strategist, case-manager and trial lawyer. He obtained verdicts totaling in excess of $350,000,000.00 and collected judgments in excess of $130,000,000.00
Jonathan graduated from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in 2006 and has been with the Schlesinger firm his entire career.
In 2007, Jonathan represented 1,250 claimants pursuing claims in the Engle Trust Fund, which resulted in a net recovery of over $10,000.000.00. After that, Jonathan was appointed plaintiff's liaison counsel for all tobacco cases pending in Broward County.
Jonathan is an experienced courtroom advocate. He has successfully tried over 40 cases to verdict, almost all of which were multi-week, complex trials. In 2012, Jonathan obtained a $75,000.000.00 verdict on behalf of an individual smoker against the four major tobacco companies. This was the first case where one smoker prevailed over all four cigarette manufacturers. More recently, Jonathan and the Schlesinger firm won a $157,000.000.00 verdict in the landmark case Rintoul v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company. This was the first same sex wrongful death case tried in the United States. Other significant results include a $41,000,000.00 bicycle accident verdict, $37,851,701.00 tobacco verdict, $37,000,000.00 tobacco verdict, $35,000,000.00 tobacco verdict, $20,000,000.00 tobacco verdict, $12,000,000.00 tobacco verdict, $10,000,000.00 medical malpractice settlement, $6,000,000.00 medical malpractice settlement and a $6,000,000.00 false imprisonment verdict. Jonathan has obtained numerous other multi-million dollar verdicts and settlements.
Jonathan is well versed in handling cases in both state and federal court. In 2009, Jonathan, along with Scott Schlesinger, obtained class certification on behalf of those who purchased the 2007 Lexus ES 350 in Florida. This litigation resulted in a nationwide settlement that covered more than 100,000 vehicle owners. In 2011, Jonathan successfully tried a food poisoning case in the southern district of Florida, resulting in a positive outcome for his client. In 2017, Judge James Browning, U.S. District Judge in New Mexico, appointed Jonathan to the Executive, Discovery, Expert Witness and Trial Committees in the multi-district litigation regarding Santa Fe Natural Tobacco cigarettes.
More recently, Jonathan and the Schlesinger firm have developed a specialized focus in electronic cigarette litigation that aims to combat the growing youth nicotine addiction epidemic created by JUUL and Philip Morris U.S.A. In December of 2019, Judge William Orrick, who presides over the centralized JUUL multi-district litigation, appointed Jonathan to the steering committee to help manage all JUUL litigation pending in federal court. Judge Orrick made this appointment after receiving dozens of applications from attorneys across the country.
Jonathan is also proud to have contributed to the academic literature regarding nicotine addiction. In 2018, Jonathan published an article in the peer reviewed Journal of Nicotine and Tobacco Research that explored the history of the warnings on tobacco products and the tobacco industry's role in crafting and manipulating current warning labels. Jonathan has presented at national legal conferences and has also appeared in national media outlets including CNN, USA Today, Law.com, Bloomberg News and various local media outlets.
Jonathan is on the Board of Beth Israel Congregation in Miami Beach where he lives with his wife and four children.


Education
-
Yeshiva University Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, 2006
- J.D.
-
Yeshiva University, 2003
- B.A.
-
Genesis Jerusalem Institute, 2000
- B.A.
Awards & Recognition
- Super Lawyers® Rising Stars, 2014 - 2019
- Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco, Assumption of Risk and the Role of Health Warnings Labels in the United States - May24, 2019
Professional Associations and Memberships
- Broward County Justice Association
- Attorney Information Exchange Group
- B'Nai B'rith Justice League
- American Association of Justice

- Bio
- Education
- Awards
- Publications
- Professional Associations
Jonathan R. Gdanski Blog Posts
-
Four Schlesinger Law Attorneys Selected to 2020 Super Lawyers or Rising Stars
Continuing a Tradition of Excellence At Schlesinger Law Offices, P.A., our renowned litigators aim to secure powerful results for injury victims in Florida and nationwide: an approach that has won us many awards and accolades ...
Read More
-
Attorneys Schlesinger and Gdanski Chosen to Lawdragon 500 in 2020
For more than six decades, the skilled personal injury attorneys at our multi-generational Florida law firm have been securing groundbreaking, multi-million-dollar verdicts and settlements for injury victims, leading us to ...
Read More
-
Jonathan Gdanski Selected to Steering Committee in National Juul Litigation
As the e-cigarette injury claims against Juul Labs have continued to mount over the last year, much of this complex litigation has been consolidated into a massive national multidistrict litigation or MDL, to ensure that all ...
Read More
-
Schlesinger Law Offices Named in The 7 Biggest Verdicts and Settlements of 2019
For more than 60 years, our Fort Lauderdale attorneys at Schlesinger Law Offices, P.A. have been seeking justice and securing victories in high-stakes personal injury cases. With a national reputation in product liability , ...
Read More
-
Schlesinger Law Offices, P.A. Recovered $157 Million in Tobacco Wrongful Death Verdict
The Schlesinger Law Offices, P.A. legal team won a verdict totaling $157 million for the husband of a wrongful death victim. The case was for the wrongful death caused by a smoking-related respiratory disease and lung cancer ...
Read More
-
Attorney Gdanski Delivers 8-Figure Verdict with a Powerful Analogy
As a noted tobacco litigation attorney, Jonathan Gdanski has personally handled more than 1,250 claims, including one of the largest awards in the history of tobacco litigation. With his usual precision and dedicated ...
Read More
-
Attorney Gdanski Published in Nicotine & Tobacco Research
As noted public health advocates and long-time challengers of the tobacco industry, our team at Schlesinger Law Offices, P.A., has spearheaded the national conversation on both traditional cigarettes and e-cigs like Juul . ...
Read More
-
Attorneys Schlesinger, Gdanski, & Barron Named 2019 Super Lawyers®, Rising Stars℠
Attorney Schlesinger Was Selected for Inclusion in the 2019 List of Florida Super Lawyers® Ever since beginning his career as a lawyer in 1984, Attorney Scott P. Schlesinger has been working hard to protect the rights of the ...
Read More
-
Schlesinger Law Offices, P.A. Secures $25 Million & $12 Million Verdicts Against Tobacco Companies
At Schlesinger Law Offices, P.A., our team of experienced lawyers are committed to helping clients throughout the state of Florida secure the compensation they deserve for their personal injury cases. Our skilled legal ...
Read More
-
Attorney Gdanski Represents Client in Lawsuit Against Hospital That Left Medical Device in Patient
Attorney Jonathan Gdanski of Schlesinger Law Offices, P.A. in Fort Lauderdale has landed a $1 million verdict for a medical malpractice client . The lawsuit was filed against Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center after his client ...
Read More
-
Schlesinger Law Offices, P.A. Featured for $20 Million Jury Award in Tobacco, Lung Cancer Case
Schlesinger Law Offices, P.A. was recently featured in Courtroom View Network after securing a $20 million jury award against the two largest tobacco companies in the United States, R.J. Reynolds and Philip Morris. Attorneys ...
Read More
-
Attorneys Scott Schlesinger, Jonathan Gdanski, and Brittany Chambers Named 2018 Super Lawyers, Rising Stars
Schlesinger Law Offices, P.A. is excited to announce that attorney Scott Schlesinger was named to the 2018 list of Super Lawyers, and attorneys Jonathan Gdanski and Brittany Barron were named to the 2018 list of Rising Stars. ...
Read More
-
Schlesinger Law Offices, P.A. Secures $20 Million Jury Verdict for Smoker's Widower
Attorneys Scott Schlesinger and Jonathan Gdanski recently secured a $20 million jury verdict for Herbert Landi, the widower of a woman who died of lung cancer in 1999 caused by smoking cigarettes. Marion Landi, the wife of ...
Read More
-
Legal Implications of the 8 Nursing Home Deaths in Hollywood, FL
Attorneys specializing in elder-law quickly weighed in to discuss the potential legal consequences surrounding the eight deaths at the Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills. “Any need for regulatory reform will be ...
Read More
-
Big Tobacco in Florida Benefits from Engle Progeny Cases & Appeals
After winning a judgement against big tobacco companies in cancer-related lawsuits, many plaintiffs in Florida are surprised to find that the legal battle is far from over. Never willing to concede defeat, Big Tobacco has ...
Read More
-
Schlesinger Wins $6M Victory for WWII Hero's Family
Schlesinger Law Offices, P.A. is honored to have recently obtained a victory of $6 million in a trial against cigarette maker R.J. Reynolds. The six-person Fort Lauderdale jury found that the tobacco giant played a role in ...
Read More
-
Jury Finds Tobacco Industry Culpable in Death of Marlboro Smoker
Dennis Oshinsky was a lifelong Marlboro smoker. He used the Philip Morris USA brand of cigarettes for decades before his death from cancer in 2000, rarely touching other tobacco companies’ products. But R.J. Reynolds Tobacco ...
Read More
Our Attorneys
-
Scott P. SchlesingerView Profile
Founding Attorney
-
Steven J. HammerView Profile
Attorney
-
Zane BergView Profile
Attorney
-
Brittany C. BarronView Profile
Attorney
-
Jeffrey L. HabermanView Profile
Attorney
-
David SilvermanView Profile
Attorney
-
Bryan HofeldView Profile
Attorney
-
Cristina SabbaghView Profile
Attorney
-
Alana CanoView Profile
Attorney
-
Sarah J. SchultzView Profile
Attorney