• Over the past 30 years, Gary A. Orseck has handled some of the largest and most significant business litigation in the country. Gary has led the defense of numerous federal securities class actions and related shareholder derivative suits, typically involving claims for more than $1 billion. Gary’s clients include several of the largest national public health care companies, hedge funds, banks and public accounting firms. He has tried all manner of civil cases, including breach of contract and business torts, copyright and trademark infringement, professional liability, and employment matters. Gary also regularly defends large accounting firms and their professionals in investigations and enforcement proceedings by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB).

    Gary has led trial teams in numerous federal jury trials including a software infringement case, a collective action under the Fair Labor Standards Act against the City of New York and a breach of fiduciary duty claim. 

    Chambers USA has recognized Gary, noting that sources describe him as “[a]n all-around excellent lawyer…very smart, persuasive and a joy to work with.” Clients have found him to be a “tremendous writer” and “incredibly effective in oral argument, in preparing witnesses and in managing experts.” Gary’s corporate clients look to him in bet-the-company cases, citing his “great judgment” and “strategic analysis.”

    A founding partner of Robbins, Russell, Englert, Orseck & Untereiner LLP, Gary served as the firm’s Managing Partner for most of its 20-year existence. He previously served in the Civil Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, where he received numerous awards for distinguished trial work, before turning to private practice with the Washington, DC, office of a global law firm.

    Experience

    • Represented as lead counsel all defendants in a $1.5 billion putative class action and a companion derivative action arising from alleged improper admission practices at more than 200 behavioral health facilities, obtaining dismissal of both cases on motions to dismiss.

    • Represented as lead counsel all defendants in a securities class action against an electronics company, seeking hundreds of millions of dollars in damages, based upon allegations of illegal channel stuffing, obtaining dismissal of the case on a motion to dismiss.

    • Represented as lead counsel a bank and its senior officers in a suit seeking more than $500 million in damages arising from a canceled wire transfer from the state of California to an entity that had claimed it could supply California with 100 million N95 respirator masks, obtaining dismissal of the case in its entirety on a motion for summary judgment.

    • Represents as lead counsel the family of a Holocaust survivor, asserting claims against the Federal Republic of Germany based upon the Nazis’ theft of the family’s priceless art collection.

    • Represented as lead counsel defendants in a putative class action seeking more than $1 billion in damages, based upon alleged misleading statements about hospital billing practices, settling the case on favorable terms after years of litigation.

    • Represented as lead counsel defendants in a shareholder class action arising from the spinoff of a new public hospital company, settling the case on favorable terms.

    • Represented in the Royal Court of Guernsey the independent directors of a publicly traded investment fund in an action seeking more than $1 billion in damages for alleged breaches of fiduciary duty. After a lengthy trial, the court issued a verdict for the defendants on all counts, which was subsequently affirmed by the Guernsey Court of Appeal.

    • Represented as lead counsel defendants in a shareholder class action seeking hundreds of millions of dollars in damages for alleged misstatements concerning patient care and billing, settling the case shortly before trial.

    • Represented as lead counsel former directors of an investment fund in the defense of a putative class action seeking hundreds of millions of dollars in damages, obtaining dismissal of the complaint at the pleading stage, which was later affirmed on appeal.

    • Represented as lead counsel a major defense contractor in a jury trial concerning allegations of copyright infringement and breach of license, settling the case after the court declared a mistrial.

    • Represented as lead counsel nearly 16,000 New York City police officers and detectives in a Fair Labor Standards Act suit, winning summary judgment on overtime rate claims.

    • Represented as part of a trial team the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of TOUSA Inc. asserting a fraudulent conveyance action in which the client was awarded more than $500 million in damages.

    • Represents numerous large accounting firms in PCAOB and SEC investigations.

    Credentials

    Education

    • J.D., with distinction, Stanford Law School, 1988
      • Editor, Stanford Law Review
    • B.A., magna cum laude, Brown University, 1985
      • Phi Beta Kappa

    Bar Admissions

    • District of Columbia, 1992
    • California (inactive), 1989
    • Florida, 1990

    Clerkships

    • Honorable Peter T. Fay, U.S.C.A., 11th Circuit

    Court Admissions

    • U.S. Supreme Court
    • U.S.C.A., 1st Circuit
    • U.S.C.A., 3rd Circuit
    • U.S.C.A., 4th Circuit
    • U.S.C.A., 6th Circuit
    • U.S.C.A., 8th Circuit
    • U.S.C.A., District of Columbia Circuit
    • U.S.D.C., District of Columbia
    • U.S.D.C., Northern District of Texas
    • U.S.D.C., Southern District of Florida