George Vinci Jr., Spector Gadon Rosen Vinci

Vinci secured a landmark $100 million award in December 2018 against international accounting firm Grant Thornton LLP, for its marketing of an abusive tax shelter. Vinci successfully argued the case, which had 40 witnesses and more than 600 exhibits, from the trial court level to the Kentucky Supreme Court. The ruling is one of the highest verdicts ever obtained in that state. Six months after joining Spector Gadon & Rosen in 1992 as a 28-year-old associate, Vinci was in the limelight for his work on the groundbreaking election fraud case of Marks v. Stenson, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, which aired on Court TV.

Vinci's commercial litigation experience involves cases throughout the United States. He has successfully handled a wide variety of complex commercial litigation matters including tortious interference, civil RICO, FDCPA, class action wage-and-hour disputes and bankruptcy litigation. Vinci also represents a large number of long-term care facilities in Florida and Pennsylvania.

In 2019, Vinci became equity shareholder of the firm, alongside longtime firm Chairman Paul R. Rosen.

What career path would you have pursued if you weren't a lawyer?

As an international relations major, I considered a career in the Foreign Service.

Name a mentor or someone you admire.

Few people in our history have made such important contributions to promoting freedom and equality than Justice Thurgood Marshall. He was a civil rights champion who helped to end segregation. As the first African American U.S. Supreme Court justice, he was instrumental in creating new protections under the law for the disenfranchised. We are all the better as a profession and a democracy because of his legacy.

What is the best advice you ever received?

My parents taught me at an early age to show others the respect that you would want them to show to you. By managing this way, you also get the most out of your team.

In 50 words or less, what does the legal profession need to do to prepare the next generation of lawyers?

There was a widely held belief that you had to work far beyond what was expected if you were to reach a certain level of success in the profession. Today, feedback and mentorship are equally important motivators. As leaders we have a duty to make younger attorneys feel part of creating a client strategy, not just dole out assignments.

What's the one piece of advice you would give someone when dealing with a crisis?

Don't let the crisis take control of you—you take control of the crisis.