On June 14, 2020, Geoff Garinther was featured in Am Law Litigation Daily’s Litigation Leaders series, which spotlights the litigation department heads of the nation’s biggest law firms. The following is an excerpt:
What areas of litigation does Venable specialize in? Has this evolved over the years?
We love trying cases and believe we’re sought after for our ability to litigate not just on paper but in the courtroom. We handle litigation related to commercial disputes, product liability and negligence, antitrust, employment, and intellectual property. Our IP practice is so large—doubled in size after our combination with Fitzpatrick Cella in 2018—that they have their own division in the firm, separate from non-IP litigators. We also have extensive experience handling both class and mass tort actions in federal and state courts.
As head of the department, what are some of your goals or priorities?
As trial lawyers, we’re doing all we can to prepare for COVID-related litigation, but also to be ready for what litigation generally will look like. We’re expecting less travel and much more use of Zoom and other technologies well beyond our return to the office. Taking and defending depositions remotely, for example, requires a somewhat different skill set, one that may come more naturally to younger lawyers who are accustomed to learning through screens.
Looking ahead, what’s on your plate? Big cases? Plans to build or expand?
We’re expecting that the trillions of dollars the government has flooded into the economy will be fueling civil and criminal cases for years to come. We feel well suited for those matters, because our strengths for decades have included investigations and defense (where we were led for many years by former U.S. Attorney General Ben Civiletti), particularly in financial services matters.
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