Nathaniel S. Berry

Counsel
Berry_Nathaniel

Nathaniel Berry's practice focuses on complex commercial and business disputes, including claims arising from breach of contract, fraud, consumer protection laws, business torts, and commercial landlord-tenant disputes. As part of his practice, Nate represents special servicers and trusts in the commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) industry in claims involving lender liability and inter-creditor disputes. He also represents lenders, loan servicers, insurance companies, and other commercial entities in lawsuits and putative class actions involving consumer protection, fraud, and other common law claims.

Prior to joining Venable, Nate served as a legislative aide to Congressman Todd Platts (R-PA), a role in which he handled policy analysis in the areas of energy, agriculture, commerce, international relations, and the judiciary. Previously he served as a clerk for the United States House of Representatives Committee on Government Reform, where he worked on matters related to financial management in the public sector.

 

Related Practices

Experience

Government Experience

  • Aide, United States House of Representatives, Office of Representative Todd Platts (R-PA)

Representative Matters

  • Member of a team that obtained dismissal of claims against a lender and special servicer by a commercial loan borrower, and obtained a foreclosure judgment and a $40 million money judgment against the borrower and a $5 million judgment against the loan guarantors at trial
  • Member of a team that obtained a dismissal of claims in a putative class action against a mortgage loan servicer, challenging foreclosure practices and involving claims under Maryland consumer protection laws
  • Member of a team that obtained a dismissal of claims against a CMBS trust, master servicer, and special servicer, brought by a commercial loan borrower that had purchased an interest in the CMBS trust in an attempt to interfere with foreclosure
  • Member of a team that obtained a dismissal of claims against a CMBS trust and special servicer in a lender liability suit brought by a commercial loan borrower seeking to avoid foreclosure
  • Obtained summary judgment in favor of a title insurance company in an ejectment action and dispute over the title to a property after the property owner obtained a discharge in bankruptcy of debt owed under a defective home mortgage
  • Obtained summary judgment in favor of a client in a dispute over ownership between two purported purchasers of a $2 million exotic Mercedes "supercar"

Insights

Credentials
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Education

  • J.D. Columbia University School of Law 2009
  • B.A. University of Pennsylvania 2004

Bar Admissions

  • Maryland

Professional Memberships and Activities

  • Maryland State Bar Association

Recognition
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  • The Best Lawyers in America, Ones to Watch, 2021 – 2024

Community
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Pro Bono

  • Secured preliminary injunction and class certification in an ongoing challenge to the Department of Homeland Security's "bait and switch" practice of luring immigrants in to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) interviews required to obtain legal status and then having U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrest, detain, and deport them once they emerge from the interviews
  • Member, Baltimore Advisory Committee of Kids in Need of Defense (KIND), an organization that helps unaccompanied immigrant and refugee children who come to the United States without parents or legal guardians seeking protection
  • Successfully represented, on a pro bono basis, numerous immigrants and refugees seeking asylum in deportation proceedings in U.S. Immigration Court