Litigation & Dispute Resolution
Counsel that fights for your best interests in all litigation and disputes
Capabilities at a glance
- Tailored client service is our watchword. We will always work closely with you to understand your goals and to ensure you know when litigation is the best option for achieving them.
- A substantial, nationally ranked law firm with considerable resources, we never lose sight of the fact that it is the individual skills and experience of our lawyers that produces positive results.
- Among the most active, experienced and successful trial attorneys in the country. We have tried cases to verdict in 45 states and have handled litigation matters in every state.
- Named to the "Fearsome Foursome Most Feared in Litigation" honor roll by BTI Consulting Group in its Litigation Outlook publication.
Tireless support for our client’s litigation objectives
At Quarles, we always strive to represent our clients in ways that reduce formal legal proceedings. We can offer frequent meetings to review and consider pending litigation and how it fits with your business priorities. We anticipate litigation needs and provide sound advice and counsel in ways to avoid or minimize risk and manage costs effectively. Above all, we operate by the principle that your company culture, your vision and values, your products and services, and the mission you fulfill are as important to effective, efficient representation as our outstanding legal capabilities. We can help you prepare risk-reward and cost analyses before entering into litigation and at key junctures as it proceeds. When we work for you, we consider ourselves an extension of your legal department — working in partnership to secure the best outcomes for your business.
Strong courtroom presence and custom-designed legal support
While we always seek to help you understand the benefits and costs of litigation, we also have tremendous depth of experience in representing clients in court, both at trial and on appeal. We have handled litigation in every state, understand the local demands and have a national reputation for proactive, aggressive pursuit of our clients’ cases in the courtroom. Our experienced attorneys have represented clients in the areas of product liability, intellectual property, labor and employment, commercial and toxic tort claims in state and federal courts alike. Whether or not your legal matters lead to the courtroom, your Quarles Litigation & Dispute Resolution team will be custom designed to address your specific needs aggressively, competently and efficiently.
Successes
Our litigation group provides business-aware advice and aggressive litigation strategies to all of our clients, which has resulted in long-term and mutually beneficial relationships across the spectrum — from small matters to bet-the-company litigation. Our ongoing work for the following two such clients highlights the breadth and depth of our litigation practice:
- Quarles represents a national beverage company in litigation and arbitration matters involving hundreds of millions of dollars.
- Quarles represents an international brewing company in both litigation and business matters throughout the country.
News & Insights
Litigation & Dispute Resolution Focus Areas
Antitrust and Trade Regulation Litigation
For many businesses, staying on the right side of antitrust and unfair trade practice laws is a primary concern. Making the right choices can be difficult in industries in which collaboration — in the form of alliances, joint ventures and associations — is a vital part of creating innovative products and technologies. It’s a fine balance, and when allegations of monopolization, price fixing and other unfair trade practices arise, clients need sophisticated, effective legal representation to help them protect their key assets and investments. With offices nationwide, our attorneys have the legal knowledge and resources to support you, as plaintiffs or defendants, as well as a reputation for successfully advocating for our clients in the courtroom, at the mediation table and before administrative bodies.
Appellate
Quarles’ Appellate team offers experienced counsel to help you answer these vital questions. Our appellate lawyers have handled appeals at every level of the state and federal systems. We offer you a fresh set of eyes on which issues to pursue — or not to pursue. We provide guidance to navigate appellate rules and procedure, and on how to best construct briefs, conduct moot court practice sessions and present an effective oral argument.
Class Action Defense
Our lawyers regularly handle class actions through all phases — initial analysis, oppositions to certification, discovery, dispositive motions and, when necessary, trial — across a broad spectrum of substantive areas. Whether a complaint alleges matters relating to antitrust, consumer protection, employment, products liability, securities, insurance, labor or any number of other claims, we bring a solid base of past experience and success to each new matter.
Direct Sales Litigation
Quarles has represented direct sales companies since the early 1980s in all aspects of their business operations. We currently serve as general counsel for direct sales companies with combined annual sales in excess of $3 billion, related foreign operations in foreign countries and millions of distributors in interrelated companies throughout the world. We understand how your business works and how litigation can obstruct your operations. With our team of dedicated and well-respected litigators, we have represented direct sales companies in all manner of Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and state attorney general investigations and enforcement actions, as well as class actions, consumer fraud lawsuits, defamation lawsuits, arbitration actions, unfair competition, Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) claims, product liability claims and Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) claims.
E-Discovery
Our experienced E-Discovery attorneys do not believe in a “one size fits all” approach when it comes to discovery strategies, document review and record retention; instead, we focus on each client's individual needs. We review what options are available to you and how they might fit with your specific technology infrastructure, cost-containment objectives and other business goals, in order to provide you with the highest level of value and service. For large-scale document reviews, we partner with a skilled e-discovery and technology provider to perform computer-assisted, algorithm-based document reviews, which reduces your review costs exponentially. Conversely, our internal e-discovery team regularly performs document reviews cost effectively for cases involving a smaller number of documents. We always work to make sure the document review and overall e-discovery strategy aligns with the chosen litigation strategy.
Employment Litigation and Dispute Resolution
At Quarles, we focus on delivering effective and assertive employment litigation counsel for our clients, but also on minimizing disputes and claims through intelligent planning and strategic legal support. We always seek to bring each potential issue to a favorable close as quickly and as cost effectively as possible.
Environmental Litigation, Enforcement and Disputes
At Quarles, our attorneys’ environmental enforcement and litigation experience covers a wide range of matters, plus knowledge of a similarly wide range of U.S. state and federal regulations and priorities. We have successfully and efficiently represented clients in a variety of regulatory enforcement matters, in addition to defending private citizen complaints.
ERISA Litigation
Recent years have seen a dramatic increase in ERISA claims. As a result of companies closing, merging or trying to contain costs by modifying benefits plans, litigation under ERISA has increased significantly and may continue to escalate for the foreseeable future. Fortunately, we can help. Well known for our prompt, specialized and client-centric service, we will always strive to help plan sponsors, administrators, trustees and fiduciaries avoid litigation in the first place. And when a case is filed, our ERISA Litigation team will help you find the most cost-effective resolution at the earliest stage in the litigation. We are proud of our reputation as seasoned litigators who have successfully resolved cases for major manufacturers, health care institutions, contractors, investment firms and companies in the transportation industry.
False Advertising and Lanham Act
The Quarles False Advertising and Lanham Act team regularly counsels clients on the complex legal issues around advertising and marketing. In every situation, our dedicated attorneys will work with you to identify your options, marshal your best arguments and minimize your risks in a changing regulatory landscape. We have particular experience with the substantiation of advertising claims, comparative advertising, compliance with Federal Trade Commission (FTC) guidance, litigating Lanham Act advertising disputes and defending against government investigations and enforcement actions. In addition to regularly litigating matters under federal and state laws regarding false advertising and deceptive trade practice, we represent clients in investigations by the FTC, state attorneys general and other state and federal consumer protection entities.
Fiduciary, Trust and Probate Litigation
High-wealth individuals and corporations often seek our firm’s help to prevent disputes involving trusts and estates — and to represent them when litigation cannot be avoided. When disputes arise, our team works with both not-for-profit and for-profit clients to identify problems and opportunities and design a strategy best suited to specific needs. Many of our fiduciary, trust and probate litigation clients are also clients of our firm’s Financial Services industry team. These clients include financial services industry members, private and charitable foundations, corporate and individual trustees, guardians, beneficiaries and ERISA trustees. From contested wills to alleged breaches of duty by fiduciaries, our experienced team can help you secure the best outcome.
Financial Institutions Litigation
We work with banks, servicers and financial institutions of all sizes, who keep coming back to us because of our broad legal experience, strong industry background in commercial and consumer lending claims, and top-tier client service. Our firm’s high responsiveness to your needs, combined with our deep and experienced bench, sets us apart.
Franchise Litigation
Quarles’ dedicated Franchise, Distribution & Direct Sales Practice Group includes litigators who are experienced at resolving franchise disputes, whether they involve core franchise law or are otherwise related to franchising. In addition to working for manufacturers and franchisors across jurisdictions, we advise direct sales and multilevel marketing companies in what can be complex commercial litigation disputes, including class actions. Through a robust disputes strategy, our attorneys have achieved successful defenses of major direct sales clients in class actions and other lawsuits relating to federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act claims, breach of warranty claims and related consumer protection claims.
Government Contracts Litigation
Government contracting disputes can take many forms, but the most common are bid protests, disputes pursuant to the Contract Disputes Act (CDA) or Miller Act, and disputes between prime and subcontractors. Quarles has represented clients with respect to all three. In particular, bid protests and CDA and Miller Act actions have regimented timelines and many traps for the unwary, and our attorneys are seasoned at navigating and assisting clients with these issues in a cost-effective manner. These representations have involved contracting with the federal government, state governments and municipal governments nationwide.
Government Enforcement Defense and Investigations
Our attorneys have deep experience with the full spectrum of government enforcement actions across industries and issues, including customs fraud, health care fraud, immigration fraud, government contract fraud, bank fraud, securities fraud, tax fraud, public corruption, anti-money laundering violations and DEA violations. We have in-depth and practical knowledge relating to the application of various fraud statutes, including the Anti-Kickback Statute, False Claims Act and Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
Health Litigation
Our Health Care Litigation team has the extensive experience and legal skills to protect your interests in any eventuality. Our health care litigators have a first-hand understanding of the health care industry. We regularly litigate high-exposure cases, both in trial and appellate court and in administrative proceedings. We always take a calm, considered approach to potential litigation and during emergency or crisis situations, we move quickly to help shape your response.
Indian Law Litigation
Quarles’ Indian Law Litigation team is an integral part of a holistic practice that provides legal counsel to Indian nations and enterprises across the country in the full range of issues that affect the operations of their businesses, governments and individuals. Our litigation team has ample experience representing tribes and tribal enterprises in tribal, state and federal courts across the country. Examples include achieving million-dollar results for tribes in lawsuits against the Department of Treasury and Interior, representing tribal housing authorities and defending tribes, tribal enterprises and tribal individuals against lawsuits and administrative actions, providing conflict resolution counseling and conducting labor and employment investigations. Whatever the conflict or situation, we can help.
Insurance Coverage Litigation
Our Insurance Recovery team has extensive experience representing policyholders and insureds in matters involving a broad array of underlying insurance claims, including asbestos, product liability, business torts, employment practices, securities violations, environmental and pollution, property damage, intellectual property, Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), consumer class actions and fiduciary liability claims.
Intellectual Property Litigation
Everything we do, inside and outside the courtroom, is based on a deep understanding of our client’s needs and expectations. From the outset, we will endeavor to become experts in your products and wider business objectives, before developing a litigation strategy that is most likely to secure your IP and achieve your goals.
Product Liability
Addressing product liability risk and navigating recalls is all about being well prepared. That’s why the Quarles Product Liability Practice Group takes a holistic approach: We work closely with our clients to “fix the roof while the sun shines,” identifying and rectifying potential liabilities before they arise to minimize the likelihood of legal action. With the right legal counsel, these issues can be managed before lawsuits are even filed.
Professional Liability
When your reputation — and your livelihood — are at stake, you need the strongest legal representation possible. With the breadth of experience on our Professional Liability team, we can quickly identify both problems and their solutions in order to resolve matters for you quickly and cost efficiently, ideally before litigation commences.
Real Estate and Construction Litigation
We offer our clients effective action that minimizes the costs and risks associated with lengthy real estate disputes, but we never sacrifice high quality legal counsel in the interests of speed. Our Real Estate and Construction Litigation team also understands the complex issues that can impede major building projects. We regularly review, draft and help negotiate clear, understandable contracts in order to minimize the likelihood of confusion or disagreements.
Securities Litigation and Enforcement
When faced with a securities investigation, enforcement action, lawsuit or arbitration, our clients first and foremost need a law firm that can help them win. Our Securities Litigation and Enforcement team has a proven track record of success. We have a long history of successfully defending broker-dealers, funds, investment advisors, corporations, and other investment entities and individuals against regulatory investigations and enforcement actions, as well as securities lawsuits in state and federal court and arbitration forums throughout the country.
Trade Secrets and Unfair Competition
Our experienced Trade Secrets and Unfair Competition team understands the importance and value of a business’s intangible assets, including its brand, reputation, customer relationships, processes, plans and research. We also understand how such assets can be vulnerable to unfair competition and have significant experience protecting them, through both preventive measures and litigation. We will work with you to identify and protect your assets, assess risks, provide pre-market advertising advice and investigate false advertising and misappropriation of trade secret claims. When litigation is necessary, we have you covered. Our team has represented businesses in nearly every industry, of every size and structure, in state and federal courts, as both plaintiffs and defendants. Our familiarity with the unique needs of businesses on both sides of the table enables us to help clients quickly pursue effective, appropriate responses to emerging situations.
Trust, Inheritance & Fiduciary Litigation
We represent fiduciaries and beneficiaries involved in trust contests, will disputes, attempted removal or surcharges of trustees, will and trust constructions, and other fiduciary litigation. Drawing on the combined resources of a long-established Estate, Trust & Wealth Preservation Practice Group and a strong bench of litigators, we achieve solid results efficiently and effectively.
White Collar Crime and Government Investigations
Few events can be as damaging to an individual or a company as becoming the focus of criminal litigation or a government investigation. When your reputation and livelihood are at stake, you need capable, experienced legal support from a defense that works in harmony with your interests. Our White Collar Crime and Government Investigations team is made up of seasoned attorneys with significant trial experience, exclusively dedicated to these kinds of cases. Our attorneys have a well-deserved reputation for their effective representation of clients in the full range of corporate compliance and white collar criminal matters, including comprehensive government and grand jury investigations. We also have a well-established practice representing individual defendants and victims in traditional criminal cases. We understand our clients' need for cost-effective representation and are committed to the philosophy that value is a function of experience, excellent service and results.
