Benjamin Gideon

When clients come to us, they are looking for financial compensation. They are often struggling just to stay above water, and they need money to provide safety and security to meet basic life needs and to build a new and better life for themselves and their family in the future.

But for many of our clients, their case is also about something more—something more important —than money. It’s about accountability. It’s about wanting to create a society where individuals, corporations, medical providers and insurance companies don’t get away with selfish, neglectful or greedy choices that put people at risk. It’s about the catharsis and closure the only comes when justice is done to make up for the precious things that another’s harmful conduct took away from them.

“In short, I have come to realize that my clients don’t just want a lawyer. They want a Champion—that is, someone who will fight for them individually, but also be willing to fight for the larger cause for which they stand.”

Ben Gideon

Ben grew up in Portland, Maine, where he attended public schools and graduated from Deering High School in 1989. His father, Martin Rogoff, a prominent member of the Maine Law School faculty, immersed Ben in legal discussions from a young age, developing his legal skills through nightly debates at the dinner table. His mother was an award-winning elementary school teacher who instilled in him the value of caring for others.

In high school, Ben played varsity soccer and captained the hockey team. He attended Cornell University but struggled academically. Following academic probation, Ben rehabilitated himself through community college courses, eventually re-admitting to Cornell and completing his degree.

Ben excelled at Boston University School of Law, transferring to Yale Law School due to his exceptional grades. Following Law School, Ben served as a law clerk to the Honorable Kermit V. Lipez, a judge on U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. Ben began his private practice at Latham & Watkins in New York City before returning to Maine to join the state’s largest plaintiff’s law firm.

In his 20 years representing injured victims, no lawyer in Maine, or Northern New England has achieved more for his clients. In 2025, in a case involving a mother who lost her fifteen year old daughter from medical negligence, Ben obtained a $25 million verdict—the highest jury verdict ever awarded a medical malpractice or personal injury plaintiff in the State of Maine.

 Ben also previously obtained one of the highest jury verdicts ever awarded in the State of Vermont, a $22.5 million verdict on behalf of an injured utility worker against an electrical utility company.

 Ben is the only lawyer to have obtained numerous recoveries above a million in Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts. 

 In addition to having distinguished himself in his representation of victims of medical malpractice, Ben has achieved unparalleled results in behalf of victims of truck and commercial vehicle accidents. Between 2024 and 2026, Ben, working with Gideon Asen attorneys Trevor Savage and Meryl Poulin have settled three trucking cases for over $10 million each, with total settlements exceeding $70 million.

 Over his career, Ben has not been afraid to take on formidable adversaries in a wide range of cases, including many cases against major international corporations, interstate trucking companies, large utility companies, and State and Federal Governments.

 Ben currently serves as one of the lead attorneys representing 100 victims of the 2023 mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine. Ben’s work on the Lewiston mass shooting case against the U.S. Army has been featured in articles in the New York Times, Boston Globe, Washington Post, Frontline, San Francisco Chronicle, Portland Press Herald, Bangor Daily News, Lewiston Sun Journal, Associated Press, Maine Public Radio and numerous other local and national news outlets.

Ben’s long list of accomplishments includes:

• Winning the largest injury verdict in Maine history ($25 million)
• Winning one of the largest injury verdicts in Vermont history ($22.5 million)
• Over $300 million in verdicts and settlements
• $5.5 million negligence verdict
• $1.75 million medical malpractice verdict
• More than $70 million recovered for victims of trucking accidents since 2024
• More than $100 million for victims of medical malpractice
• More than $10 million in product liability recoveries from major auto manufacturers
• More than $25 million in verdicts and settlements against power and utility companies
• Millions for families and victims of maritime disasters, including the landmark El Faro case
• Over $5 million in Federal Tort Claims Act trials and settlements against the U.S. Government
• Millions for victims of nursing home negligence and abuse
• Landmark civil rights verdict for police Taser victim

Ben’s accomplishments, professionalism, and character have earned him widespread recognition from his peers. He has been listed in Best Lawyers in America and Super Lawyers every year since 2013 and has three times been named “Lawyer of the Year” for Maine. He holds the top rating of “AV Preeminent” from Martindale-Hubbell and a perfect 10.0 rating on AVVO.  Ben has been named by LawDragon to the list of 500 best lawyers in America.

In 2019, Ben became only the second lawyer in Maine history to be inducted into the Inner Circle of Advocates, an invitation-only group limited to no more than100 of the top plaintiff lawyers in the United States.

In 2020, Ben was inducted as a Fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers (ACTL), an invitation-only group of both plaintiff and defense attorneys limited to no more than the top 1% of trial lawyers in each state. Currently, Ben is the only lawyer in Maine who is a member of both the Inner Circle and ACTL.

“Membership in the College cannot exceed one percent of the total lawyer population of any state or province.”

ACTL

After 17 years representing injured victims at another Maine firm, in November 2020, Ben decided to form a new law firm, Gideon Asen LLC.

“I was very proud of everything I had accomplished at my former firm,” Ben said, “but I was excited by the challenge of building a new firm that could chart a new, even better, course in achieving results for our deserving clients.”

Ben’s first step was to recruit Taylor Asen to join him. “Taylor and I have a common mission,” Ben said. “Although we’re separated by 12 years, Taylor also attended Yale Law School and completed prestigious Federal clerkships. He’s insanely smart.”

“But perhaps more important, Taylor and I share a common vision of a plaintiff’s law firm where clients have access to exceptional lawyers and service. We are both supremely competitive and don’t tolerate mediocrity. We believe we owe it to our clients to give them the very best, and that is what Gideon Asen will provide.”

Ben Gideon

Shortly after opening, Gideon Asen was recognized as the premier plaintiff’s personal injury and medical malpractice firm in Maine. In the five years since it opened, Gideon Asen has recovered more than $150 million for its clients.

In September 2022, in one of the first jury trials following court closure during the Covid pandemic, Ben, along with attorney Meryl Poulin, obtained a $5.5 million verdict in Androscoggin County on behalf of a client whose father’s remains were mishandled by a funeral company. This was a landmark verdict because Ben and his team were successful in obtaining this verdict and a substantial recovery for numerous victims represented by Gideon Asen despite the fact that none of the victims suffered any physical injury.

In September 2023, Ben, along with attorney Trevor Savage, tried a prostate cancer case in Maine Superior Court. The defendants capitulated after three days of trial, paying a substantial settlement.

Sought After Speaker and Podcast Host

 Ben speaks regularly around the country on issues relating to trial practice and law firm growth, management, and scaling. He is the host of two popular podcasts.

Ben hosts Elawvate: The Trial Lawyer Podcast, which focuses on the human factors and guiding principles that drive successful trial lawyers. The podcast has been wildly successful, regularly ranking as one of the top trial lawyer podcasts in the nation with more than 100,000 downloads and listeners in all fifty states. Trial lawyers regularly seek Ben out for help with their cases, to brainstorm and discuss trial strategy or to associate with Ben and the Gideon Asen team on their most important trials.

Learn more about Elawvate: The Trial Lawyer Podcast

Ben along with Gideon Asen Chief Operating Officer, Jeffrey Wright, also host Elawvate: Build and Grow Your Law Firm.  This podcast focuses on business issues and is designed for lawyers looking to start or build and scale a law firm.  

Learn more about Elawvate: Build and Grow Your Law Firm

Ben lives in Freeport, Maine, with his wife, Sara Gideon, and three children, Julian, Aleksandr, and Anna Josephine and his two dogs, Jacoby, an anxiety-ridden rescue, and Rafi, a prissy Golden Mountain Doodle.

Sara Gideon is a former two-term Speaker of the Maine House of Representatives and was the 2020 Democratic Nominee for U.S. Senate in Maine.

When Ben is not practicing law, he enjoys skiing at Sugarloaf, fishing in Casco Bay, hiking, canoeing, traveling and just spending time with his family.

Ben enjoys thinking about the practice of trial law and strategies for success and is a frequent and sought-out writer and speaker on trial topics. Here is a partial list of some of Ben’s teaching, articles, invited speeches and presentations:

Teaching:

• Taking and Defending Depositions, Maine Law School
• Trial Practice, Maine Law School, Spring 2022

Books

• Bad Medicine: Litigating Medical Malpractice Claims in Maine (Ben Gideon and Taylor Asen)
• Preface to Juryball: Improving Trial Outcomes Through Empirical Science, authored by John and Alicia Campbell and Sean Claggett

Published Articles:

• Justice for Victims of Lewiston Shooting, with Travis Brennan, October 10, 2024, Maine Lawyer’s Review
• Attorney-Conducted Voir Dire in our Recent Trial, with Meryl Poulin, Aug. 4, 2024, Maine Lawyer’s Review
• Medical Malpractice: The Prostate Cancer Case, with Trevor Savage, Jan. 11, 2024, Maine Lawyer’s Review
• Medical Malpractice: Our Recent Trial, with Trevor Savage, Nov. 9, 2023, Maine Lawyer’s Review
• Exploring Civil Justice for Victims of the Lewiston Mass Shooting, with Travis Brennan, Dec. 7, 2023, Maine Lawyer’s Review
• Pierringer: The Promise and Peril, with Taylor Asen, May 2023, Maine Lawyer’s Review
• The Quirky Nature of Maine’s Hearsay Exception for Learned Treatises, May 2023, Maine Lawyer’s Review
• Medical Malpractice: The Stroke Case, Maine Lawyer’s Review
• What Is Severe Emotional Distress Worth? Androscoggin County Jury: $5.5 Million, with Meryl Poulin, Nov. 15, 2022, Maine Lawyer’s Review
• Retaining Good Expert Witnesses in Medical Malpractice Cases, Nov. 2022, Maine Lawyer’s Review
• What Is The “Medical Record,” and Why Does It Matter in Medical Malpractice Cases?, Maine Lawyer’s Review, Sept. 2022
• Top Seven Defenses a Plaintiff Must Overcome to Win a Medical Malpractice Case, Maine Lawyer’s Review, 2022
• The Botched Surgery Case, Maine Lawyer’s Review, 2022
• Why is Bangor, Maine, Such a Hotbed of Medical Malpractice Cases? Maine Lawyer’s Review, 2022
• Medical Malpractice, Known Risks, Maine Lawyer’s Review, Feb. 2022
• The “Smoking” Defense, Maine Lawyer’s Review, Oct. 2021
• The “Continuing Medical Treatment” Exception to the Statute of Limitations for Medical Malpractice, Maine Lawyer’s Review, Aug. 2021
• The Seven Most Common Mistakes in Handling Medical Malpractice Cases, Maine Lawyer’s Review, July 2021
• Evaluating the Nursing Home Case: The Pressure Ulcer Case, Maine Lawyer’s Review
• Making the Injured Plaintiff Whole: Maine Tort Damages in Practice, Maine Lawyer’s Review
• Evaluating the Nursing Home Case: Accidents, Falls and Elopement, Maine Lawyer’s Review
• Who Are These People on My Jury, Maine Lawyer’s Review
• The Road to a $22.5 Million Verdict, Maine Lawyer’s Review
• Victims of Abuse are Fighting Back, Maine Lawyer’s Review
• The Jury Trial’s Last Stand: Wyeth v. Levine, Maine Lawyer’s Review

Invited Lectures and Presentations:

• 2017 Maine State Bar Association, Evaluating and Prosecuting the Nursing Home Case
• Maine State Bar Association, Bridging the Gap, Taking and Defending Winning Depositions
• 2019 Keenan Trial Institute, Atlanta Georgia, Finding and Proving the Lie in the Medical Malpractice Case
• 2019 Maine State Bar Association, Trial College, Freeport, Maine Show the Case, Using Visuals and Demonstrative Aids to Bring Your Case to Life
• 2021 Maine Trial Lawyers Association, CLE Series, Direct Examination
• 2021 Trial Lawyer University, Los Angeles, CA, Building a Bullet-Proof Medical Malpractice Case: Intake to Trial
• 2021 Maine State Bar Association, Summer Bar Meeting, Building a New Law Firm: Lessons Learned
• 2021 Inner Circle of Advocates, Hawaii, Report on Duff v. FCA US LLC2022 Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles (CAALA) presentation on Pre-Death Damages
• 2021 Trial Lawyer University, Las Vegas, NV, Medical Malpractice Track: Tell the Story of Your Case in Opening; Developing the Evidence to Prove Your Malpractice Case; Closing Argument: Bring it all Home with a Powerful Case Frame
• 2022 Maine State Bar Association, Summer Bar Meeting, Big Data and Focus Groups
• 2022 Trial Lawyer University, Webinar, Marielle Bischoff-Wurstle v. Affordable Creamation Solutions
• 2023 Inner Circle of Advocates, New York, New York, Verdict Report on Marielle Bischoff-Wurstle v. Affordable Creamation Solutions
• 2023 Trial Lawyer University, New York, New York, Trying the System Failure Medical Malpractice Case
• 2023 Maine Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (MACDL), Voir Dire: Lessons Learned in Civil Cases
• 2024 Trial Lawyer University, Las Vegas, Preparing the Killer Cross Examination
• 2024 Ohio Association of Justice, plenary sessions speaker, How Trial Lawyers Think about Risk
• 2025 Webinar Presentation, What Happens When AI Enters the Courtroom?
• 2025 Maine Bar Association, Winter Meeting, Top 10 Proven Strategies Every Lawyer Entrepreneur Needs to Build a Financially Successful Law Firm
• 2025-2026 WGME Channel 13 Ask the Expert Series, television interview appearances on a variety of topics

Trial and Medical Error Podcast, with Brendan Lupetin

David v. Goliath Podcast, with the Dolman Law Group

Working the Wow Podcast, with Attorney Judd Shaw, From Big Law to Building Dreams: Ben Gideon's Journey to a Value-Driven Law Firm

Law Firm Blueprint Podcast with Attorney Seth Price, Mid-Career? Ultimate Guide to Launch Your Firm

Trial Lawyer Prep with Elizabeth Larrick

The Law Firm Owner Podcast with Melissa Shanahan