Bio
As a partner in the firm’s Litigation Department and Financial Services Group, Gerry Gaeng has successfully handled some of the region’s largest and most complex litigation matters, in state and federal trial and appellate courts, as well as in arbitrations and mediations. He concentrates in complex business and government litigation, including class-action defense, financial services litigation, intellectual property litigation, administrative law, commercial tort and contract litigation, higher education law, and real estate and construction litigation.
Gerry graduated summa cum laude from Towson University and received the “Most Outstanding Student” award at the Emory University School of Law. He served as a federal judicial law clerk, Maryland Assistant Attorney General, and counsel to a congressionally created commission that investigated the nation’s savings and loan crisis of the 1980s.
During his decades of private practice, Gerry has been recognized in a short list of Maryland’s “local litigation stars” in every annual edition of Benchmark: America’s Leading Litigation Firms and Attorneys, where clients have praised him for “astounding results” and described him as “simply the best.” Similarly, he has been listed in every edition of Maryland Super Lawyers and in the 2011-present editions of Best Lawyers in America, which named him Baltimore’s 2016 “Lawyer of the Year” for Litigation – Banking and Finance, and its 2021 Baltimore “Lawyer of the Year” for Real Estate Litigation. Gerry is also ranked for commercial litigation in Maryland in the prestigious Chambers USA publication.
Practice Groups
- Litigation
- Financial Services Group
- Commercial Lending
Bar Admissions
- Maryland Supreme Court
- U.S. District Court, District of Maryland
- U.S. Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit
- U.S. Supreme Court
Education
- Emory University School of Law, J.D. (with honors) (“Most Outstanding Student” award)
- Towson University, B.S. (summa cum laude)
- Federal Bar Association – Maryland Chapter, Past President and former Chair of the Board of Governors
- Maryland State Bar Association
- Bar Association of Baltimore City
- Bar Association of Baltimore County
- Towson University Board of Visitors, Former Member
- Towson University Alumni Association, President Emeritus
- Towson University Foundation, Emeritus Director
- Sergeants Inn Law Club
- Emory University Law School Council, Former Member
- Counsel to National Commission on Financial Institution Reform, Recovery and Enforcement – the Commission was created by Congress to investigate the national savings and loan crisis of the 1980’s and to recommend reforms to Congress and the President. The Commission issued its report, Origins and Causes of the S&L Debacle: A Blueprint for Reform, to President Clinton and Congress in July of 1993 (1992-1993)
- Co-Chair, Towson University 150th Anniversary Celebration
- Maryland Super Lawyers (2008-present) – Business Litigation
- Listed as a ‘local litigation star’ in the 2008-2023editions of Benchmark: America’s Leading Litigation Firms and Attorneys
- Fellow, Maryland Bar Foundation
- Towson University 2014 Alumni Service Award
- Best Lawyers in America® – U.S. News & World Report (2011-present)
- 2021 Baltimore ‘Lawyer of the Year’ in Litigation – Real Estate
- 2016 Baltimore ‘Lawyer of the Year’ in Litigation – Banking & Finance
- Martindale-Hubbell® Peer Review Rated – AV® Preeminent™
- The Daily Record’s Leadership in Law Award Winner (2016)
- Selected for inclusion in Chambers USA – General Commercial Litigation, Maryland (2017-present)
- Towson University Alumni Association Spirit of the University Award (2000)
- Towson University 2007 Dean’s Recognition Award for the College of Liberal Arts
- Towson University Alumni Association Volunteer Service Award (2014)
- Order of the Coif, Emory University School of Law
- Woodruff Fellowship in Law, Emory University School of Law
- Most Outstanding Student Award, Emory University School of Law (1984)
- Fourth Circuit Holds That Federal Subject-Matter Jurisdiction Under the Class Action Fairness Act Can Rest on What “May Be” True
- Fourth Circuit Takes Pendent Jurisdiction Over Appeal of Trial Court Order to Compel Arbitration Despite A Seeming Prohibition in Federal Arbitration Act
- Seventh Circuit Affirms Dismissal of Student Athletes’ Suit Seeking Federal Minimum Wage, But Concurrence Leaves Room for a Different Result in Future Cases
- Federal Appeals Court Declares the Structure of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Unconstitutional
- The Fourth Circuit Interprets Late Fee Provisions in Maryland’s CLEC Statute
- Lender Liability Under Maryland’s CLEC Statute
- Fewer Pockets to Pick: Limits on the Use of Conspiracy Allegations to Add Additional Defendants to a Civil Lawsuit
- Changing Lives, Creating Leaders: Emory Law School Celebrates the Twentieth Anniversary of the Robert F. Woodruff Fellowship (Emory Lawyer, Spring 2004)
Experience
Successfully defended bank in lender-liability action brought by loan customer resulting in de minimis settlement.
Co-counsel in defense of a pending patent infringement suit against a provider of military armor for the United States military brought in federal court by a competitor.
Successfully defended federal-court consumer class action against large automotive dealership group alleging violation of state law governing automobile financing.
Represented and advised the Special Litigation Committee of the board of directors of a REIT sued in a shareholder derivative action.
Tried arbitration case for Fortune 500 company seeking damages against coal producer under a commodity supply contract; resulted in mid-trial favorable settlement.
Obtained an order compelling individual arbitration of a claim of a named plaintiff in a putative class action against a financial services company.
Recovered substantial funds for a vendor of commercial real estate when a developer defaulted on the purchase agreement.
Was lead counsel on amici curiae brief filed on behalf of financial services companies before Maryland’s highest court; resulted in affirmance of judgment that defendant mortgage assignee was not liable for statutory lending violation committed by loan originator.
Successfully defended before a jury claims brought against a developer and home builder by residents of a community alleging underground water problems.
Successfully defended as lead liaison counsel in federal trial and appellate courts consolidated class-action cases brought under state and federal mortgage lending statutes against multiple financial institutions.
Drafted complex legislation for professional association and for a governmental entity; both bills were enacted into law.
Recovered substantial liquidated damages for a totalizator company in federal trial court for breach of contract by the operator of a racetrack.
As counsel to the congressionally created National Commission on Financial Institution Reform, Recovery and Enforcement, conducted witness examinations in public and private Commission hearings and assisted in the preparation of the Commission’s published report to the President of the United States, the President of the U.S. Senate and the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.
Successfully defended claims asserted under a host of state and federal statutes, including:
- The Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA)
- The Truth in Lending Act (TILA)
- The Home Ownership and Equity Protection Act (HOEPA)
- The Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA)
- The Maryland Uniform Commercial Code (UCC)
- The Maryland Consumer Protection Act (MCPA)
- The Maryland Secondary Mortgage Loan Law (SMLL)
- The Maryland Retail Installment Sales Act (RISA)
- The Maryland Credit Grantor Closed End Credit Provisions (CLEC)
- The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA)
- The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA)
- The Maryland Telephone Consumer Protection Act (MTCPA)
- The Maryland Consumer Debt Collection Act (MCDCA)