Litigation

For over 180 years, leading companies around the world have relied on Kelley Drye litigators to guide them through the thorniest business litigation. We help our clients to not only achieve litigation wins but also to mitigate legal and business risks.

Our attorneys zealously advocate for our clients’ interests in courtrooms and other forums across the country and have helped them successfully resolve complex and challenging business disputes. That’s why we are recognized as a “Litigation Standout” in BTI Consulting Group’s “Litigation Outlook 2025” and named to “Most Feared Law Firms” in BTI Consulting’s “Litigation Outlook 2017 and 2018.” General counsel and decision makers on legal services consider Kelley Drye one of the firms that they would least like to see as opposing litigation counsel—welcome news to our clients. The litigation group’s noteworthy victories earned them recognition by Law360 as a 2017 “Consumer Protection Practice Group of the Year.” The honor recognized their “staunch defense in regulatory and litigious cases” and key wins in state and appellate courts. Additionally, several of our attorneys are recognized in Legal 500, Chambers and Benchmark Litigation as leading litigators.

These recognitions—and many others that we have received—are the result of our dedication to exceptional client service and our commitment to three principles at the core of the work we do for our clients:

We Are Trial Lawyers

Our litigation partners are courtroom-tested trial lawyers who have tried significant and challenging cases in federal and state courts, arbitration tribunals and administrative bodies around the country. We strongly believe that obtaining the best results for our clients, with efficient and cost-conscious use of resources, requires that litigation strategy and key tasks be handled by experienced trial lawyers who know how to build a compelling narrative around a client’s position. Our litigation partners lead cases with hands-on involvement, building right-sized trial teams, including in-house discovery attorneys, to develop the best evidence to promote settlements or win trials.

We Are Business Lawyers

Our litigators know the impact that disputes have on your business and understand how to handle these matters in a way that advances your broader commercial objectives. We treat litigation as a tool to be used carefully and effectively to advance your business goals. All of our litigators understand the difference between forceful and effective advocacy that impacts adversaries and courts, and drives satisfactory resolution and tactics that only serve to create needless conflicts and drive up litigation costs. Our right-sized litigation teams work collaboratively with one another and build productive relationships with co-counsel and adversaries that allow us to forcefully—and effectively—advocate your position. We recognize that clients expect more than strategic legal counsel and victory in the courtroom—they expect results to be delivered seamlessly and managed with a commitment to value. Our project management approach ensures that we handle matters successfully, efficiently and with the utmost responsiveness to client needs.

We also know that not every dispute is best resolved in the courtroom and that alternative dispute resolution (ADR) techniques might be the better business choice. Our attorneys know and understand the different uses, strategies and procedure for a full range of ADR and have an excellent record of success in ADR. We can help you determine if and when early neutral evaluation, mediation, mini-trial, arbitration or another form of alternative dispute resolution are likely a better road to successfully concluding your business disputes. We represent clients in numerous forums, such as the American Arbitration Association (AAA), Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), and Judicial Arbitration and Mediation Service (JAMS), as well as in international arbitration.

Innovative Approach to Litigation Cost Predictability

We know and understand that you need to implement budgets, properly price litigation work and handle litigation matters as efficiently as possible. Our team includes a strategic pricing administrator committed to developing mutually beneficial fee arrangements based on your needs. We believe we are well ahead of most of our competitors in approaching the business side of litigation so that clients can best predict and manage the cost of litigation. Our work is designed, discussed and approved to stay within a realistic budget, in order to avoid unpleasant billing surprises. Our sophisticated cost-tracking tools, including software to monitor time spent and fees charged on a matter against any budget or alternative fee arrangement and real-time data reporting, ensure efficiency and that financial benchmarks are met. Our goals are to provide clients with reasonable cost certainty at the outset and at all stages of a matter, to align our interests with yours and to make sure that every dollar spent is being properly deployed in pursuit of your strategic objectives.

Team Members