Karl Geercken

• Substantial appellate practice experience in multiple jurisdictions, including the Second Circuit, Third Circuit, Eleventh Circuit, D.C. Circuit, New York’s Appellate Divisions, the Supreme Court of New Jersey, and a petition for certiorari to the U.S. Supreme Court.
• Represented manufacturing companies in various commercial litigation matters throughout the U.S.
• Adviser to private equity funds on various risk avoidance/adversarial matters and real estate-related litigation in various jurisdictions.
• Represented foreign banks in various bankruptcy litigation matters, including a multimillion-dollar federal turnover proceeding.
• Represented foreign sovereigns or their agencies in various international litigation matters.
• Represented the German Treuhandanstalt (Trust Authority) in connection with complex federal litigation in New York that arose out of the reunification of Germany.
• Defended a major consumer products company in an alleged breach of contract arbitration and parallel injunction proceedings in New York.
• Represented a major telecommunications company in complex FRAND-related litigation in U.S. courts.
• Defended a major pharmaceutical company in products liability litigation seeking wrongful death damages in New York.
• Represented the U.S. subsidiary of a foreign government-owned broadcast company in connection with significant antitrust litigation.
• Recovered a multimillion-dollar artwork through federal litigation on behalf of a foreign estate.

Karl Geercken is a partner in the firm’s Litigation & Trial Practice Group. He has more than 30 years of experience representing clients across the U.S. and the world in a broad range of complex, high-stakes commercial litigation and arbitrations. He focuses on the business goals of the client and works with his team to devise a strategy that supports those goals by emphasizing early case assessment as a tool to reduce uncertainty in litigation. Karl has been ranked by Chambers USA for Litigation: General Commercial – New York and noted for being “very reliable” and for “explaining complex issues very simply.” He is also ranked in Chambers Global for Litigation as a Foreign Expert in Germany.

Karl frequently manages parallel U.S. and foreign litigation and has extensive experience in cross-border litigation. He has been called upon to represent foreign governments or their agencies in U.S. courts. As a result, he has developed insight into handling issues common to international dispute resolution, including those relating to the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA), the Act of State Doctrine, and obtaining discovery abroad. He is fluent in German and a co-leader of the firm’s German Practice Team and a member of the Global Business Strategies Team. (CV auf Deutsch)

Karl also serves as Alston & Bird’s General Counsel. He has significant experience advising on professional liability issues and cases.

Languages

• German

Bar Admissions

• New Jersey
• New York

Education

• The George Washington University (J.D., 1992)
• University of Rochester (B.A., 1987)

Memberships