Gair Eberhard Nelson Dedinas turns 10 this year, celebrating a decade of hard-charging and strategic representation for companies and individuals.
Over the years, the firm has earned wide recognition for its elite litigation practice, securing a place in the highly regarded Chambers law firm rankings list alongside AmLaw 100 firms. Gair Eberhard is the smallest firm recognized on the Illinois Litigation: General Commercial list and the Illinois Litigation: White-Collar Crime & Government Investigations list and boasts the highest percentage of ranked partners at 75%.
“I am grateful to the clients who have trusted us with their businesses and reputations, as well as to my wonderful colleagues for the tremendous effort they have put into our firm over the past decade,” said Chris Gair. “We are thrilled to see what the next chapter will bring.”
Chris, a fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers, founded the firm in 2013 with Vilia Dedinas after many years at the country’s most elite law firms and as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in Chicago and Deputy Chief of the Organized Crime Division. His vision for a boutique firm that could offer trial-ready attorneys without large-firm overhead quickly attracted AmLaw colleagues Jeff Eberhard and Kristi Nelson.
Today, Gair Eberhard provides top-flight legal representation to companies and their directors and officers in complex commercial litigation, business disputes, employment litigation, and white-collar criminal defense matters. The partners bring decades of experience in trade secret litigation, securities and commodities enforcement and regulation, fraud and breach of fiduciary duty litigation, and workplace investigations to represent clients in state and federal courts – as well as outside the courtroom.
Throughout its 10 years, the firm has handled many high-profile, headline-making cases including:
- Defending a tax fraud and false statements prosecution against a prominent Chicago lawyer and successfully limiting his sentence to a fraction of the time the government sought.
- Obtaining declination of prosecution for a number of corporate executives in accounting fraud and securities investigations.
- Winning a fraud judgment of $2M compensatory and punitive damages in a jury trial for a physician against his former practice and managing partner who withheld his equity.
- Successfully defending an entrepreneur in a breach of contract action brought by his divorce lawyer seeking a $9.75M bonus fee. The firm won a dismissal with prejudice that was upheld on appeal.
- Representing the court-appointed Special Master in litigation relating to alleged illegal patronage employment practices in the State of Illinois and providing counsel on efforts to reform the State’s personnel practices.
- Successfully defending a $5M fraud, breach of contract, and whistleblower retaliation suit in a jury trial brought by a currency trader against his former employer.
- Defeating a $6M arbitration claim brought against a purchaser as part of an earnout dispute with the former owners of a manufacturing company.
- Successfully defending a high-frequency trading company in a $10M breach of contract claim brought by the owner of a trans-Atlantic cable company.
Thanks to these and countless additional wins, Gair Eberhard and its attorneys are continuously recognized by Chambers, Best Lawyers, Best Law Firms and Super Lawyers. Chambers lauds the firm as “a great litigation boutique … very practical, efficient and reasonable.”
Gair Eberhard Nelson Dedinas is an elite litigation boutique renowned for its complex civil litigation, white collar defense, employment litigation and counseling, and internal investigations. From bet-the-company cases to sensitive employment matters, their proven track record of success gives clients peace of mind in even the most challenging cases. The firm is based in Chicago.