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Gerald J. Stubenhofer, Jr. Partner

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Pittsburgh T +1 412 667 7913 F fax +1 412 667 7980
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Jerry is an experienced trial lawyer who has tried numerous commercial cases across the country to verdict. He has successfully tried franchising cases, complex commercial matters, cases involving disputes between members of limited liability companies, partners, shareholders of closely held corporations, and employment related disputes before juries, judges, and arbitrators. He regularly litigates claims where preliminary injunctive relief is sought and has obtained temporary restraining orders and preliminary injunctions that effectively ended what would have otherwise been costly litigation for his clients. Jerry handles all appeals that flow from his trial work and has successfully argued before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, the Supreme Court of the State of New York, Appellate Division, First Judicial Department, and both intermediate appellate courts in Pennsylvania.

Jerry has chaired McGuireWoods’ retail industry team, its distribution and franchise practice group, participated on the firm’s technology and recruiting committees, and contributed as a member of the e-discovery team.

From 2007 to 2014, Jerry took a leave of absence from McGuireWoods and served as the Senior Vice President, Chief Legal Officer, and Secretary for a multi-billion dollar publicly traded retail corporation. He was responsible for all legal affairs of the company and its subsidiaries, and supervised the human resource function. Jerry was a member of that company’s executive committee, advised its board of directors and was an integral part of the management team that took the company public in 2011, when it was ranked the number one IPO of the year. Jerry’s robust in-house experience has informed his legal practice since his return to the firm in 2015.

Experience

  • Obtained a multi-million-dollar arbitration award in favor of a publicly traded REIT in an arbitration concerning its rights to manage an LLC, following breaches of contract by its co-investors, and defended that award from a motion to vacate. The REIT also received a seven-figure award of attorney’s fees that was confirmed by a US district court.
  • Obtained multi- million-dollar arbitration award in breach of contract action for national retailer, The Finish Line. Inc.
  • Obtained multi- million jury verdict following a three-week trial in San Diego, California, on behalf of a marketing company in a case involving the breach of and fraudulent inducement into an exclusive distribution agreement governing the rights to a patented dietary product.
  • Obtained a directed verdict on behalf of eight defendants in a six million defamation claim brought by a former executive terminated by the corporate defendant because of a violation of the company’s conflict-of-interest policy.
  • Obtained a defense verdict and verdict on a counterclaim on behalf of the world’s largest privately held company that was sued on a breach-of-contract claim.
  • Handled numerous preliminary injunctions on behalf of national and international franchisors seeking to remove delinquent franchisees from their franchise systems.
  • Represented international franchisor in a multimillion-dollar international franchising arbitration filed by a Mexican franchisee to prevent an alleged encroachment of a protected territory.
  • Defended and prosecuted dozens of preliminary injunctions involving alleged employee breaches of noncompetition, confidentiality, and non-solicitation agreements.
  • Obtained substantial verdicts in two bench trials for a consulting firm named one of fastest growing companies in Pittsburgh.
  • Obtained summary judgment for employers in employment cases brought under Title VII involving claims of gender discrimination, reverse gender discrimination, sexual harassment, and religious discrimination.
  • Obtained summary judgment for employers in employment cases brought under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act.

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