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About Greg

Seasoned litigator and client problem-solver

Greg Everts provides extensive experience in business litigation, class action lawsuits and government civil enforcement. He has litigated in state and federal courts in Wisconsin and across the country, with a focus on:

  • Class actions
  • Government civil investigations, penalty actions and regulatory proceedings
  • Protection of trade secrets and enforcement of confidentiality and non-compete agreements
  • Litigation and compliance advice in false advertising, deceptive trade practice, weights and measures, pricing/antitrust, securities, insurance, privacy and other regulatory matters

Greg takes a practical and strategic approach to dispute resolution, working to resolve client problems without litigation when possible. In litigation, he is a tenacious advocate known for clear and persuasive arguments to mediators, arbitrators, judges, juries and opposing counsel.

Prior to Quarles, Greg’s legal roles included trial attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice and legal counsel in the Office of the U.S. Vice President. He teaches a course on advanced litigation and class action practice at the University of Wisconsin Law School.

Greg devotes significant time to pro bono work. He recently headed a team of Quarles lawyers who, in association with lawyers outside the firm, challenged the constitutionality of Wisconsin’s system of parole as applied to persons sentenced to life in prison for crimes committed as juveniles.

Experience in Action

  • Defending class action claims, including deceptive trade practices, false advertising, Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), Driver’s Privacy Protection Act, securities, insurance, pricing/antitrust, time-share marketing and other matters.
  • Defending government investigations, administrative proceedings and civil penalty actions, including interactions with the U.S. Justice Department, Federal Trade Commission, Food and Drug Administration, Consumer Product Safety Commission, Securities and Exchange Commission and other federal agencies, as well as state consumer protection, licensing, insurance, securities and public utility regulators.
  • Protecting intellectual property rights such as trademarks and copyrights, the right of publicity and the theft of trade secrets or other confidential information.
  • Business litigation involving claims of fraud, false advertising, breach of contract, tortuous interference, unfair competition, enforcement of non-compete agreements and related matters.

Successes

  • Defeated motion for class certification in a federal class action lawsuit alleging various deceptive trade practice claims against a vacation ownership company.
  • Secured dismissal of the class claims in a Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) class action lawsuit by defeating plaintiff’s motion to compel discovery, sharply reducing the scope of any possible class.
  • Defeated the Wisconsin Department of Transportation’s attempt to debar a construction contractor.
  • Reversed the City of Madison’s denial of a client’s liquor license application by showing the court the city’s reasons for the denial were arbitrary; license granted.
  • Won a preliminary and permanent injunction in a lawsuit for trademark infringement, unfair competition and violation of famous client’s right of publicity.
  • Won a significant financial recovery in FINRA arbitration for five investors defrauded by an unscrupulous advisor.
  • Defeated a commercial landlord’s demand for $5.1 million in repairs after our client terminated a long-term lease and vacated the premises.

Professional Recognitions

  • Best Lawyers in America® "Lawyer of the Year" (2023: Litigation - Regulatory Enforcement [SEC, Telecom, Energy])
  • Best Lawyers in America® (2016-present - Litigation - Regulatory Enforcement [SEC, Telecom, Energy])
  • Best Trade Secrets Dispute Attorney, 2016 Intellectual Property Awards, Acquisition International
  • Martindale-Hubbell AV® Peer Review Rated
  • Life Fellow of the Wisconsin Law Foundation
  • Fellow of the American Bar Association
  • Group Pro Bono Award, Seventh Circuit Bar Association -- leader of a legal team representing two prisoners with serious mental illnesses in a lawsuit that successfully challenged conditions of solitary confinement at the Waupun (Wisconsin) Correctional Institution.

Professional & Civic Activities

  • Trial Attorney, U.S. Department of Justice (1990-1997)
    • Attorney General's Honor Program (1990-1993)
    • Commissioner's Special Citation, U.S. Food and Drug Administration (1997)
    • Food and Drug Administration Group Award for the investigation of smuggled and unapproved drugs in the veal industry (1997)
    • USDOJ Special Achievement Awards (1992-1996)
  • Associate counsel, Office of the Vice President; special counsel, President's Crime Prevention Counsel (1995-1996)
  • Former news reporter, Congressional press secretary and legislative assistant
  • Adjunct professor, Complex Litigation§ 950, University of Wisconsin Law School (2021-present)
  • Western District of Wisconsin Bar Association, president (2007-2008), board of governors (2002-2012)
  • James E. Doyle Inns of Court, member 
  • American Bar Association, State Bar of Wisconsin, Dane County Bar Association, member
  • Former Madison Club Charitable Foundation, founder/director (2008-2018), president (2012-2016)
  • Rotary Club of Downtown Madison, member (2002-present)
  • Madison Club, director (2017-2023), president (2022-2023)
  • Former Friends of the University of Wisconsin-Madison Arboretum, director (2015-2021)
  • Edgewood Condominium Association, Inc., chair (2011-2014); Edgewood Campus School, trustee (2002-2008); ECS Committee on Campus Governance, chair (2007-2011)
  • Criminal Penalties Study Committee, State of Wisconsin, member (1998-1999)

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