Litigation We have an active and diverse litigation practice. Our litigation attorneys have extensive experience in representing the firm’s clients at all levels of the federal and state courts, before administrative bodies, and before arbitrators, mediators and other alternative dispute tribunals. The firm regularly represents clients in disputes involving many subject areas, including the following: Business litigation of all types, including disputes about breach of contract, commercial leases, land use, partnership dissolution, unfair competition, and breach of fiduciary duty; Construction litigation, including bond claims, mechanic’s liens, disputes with subcontractors, damage caused by construction delays, warranty claims, and negligence; Fair housing counseling and litigation, including claims of alleged discrimination in the lease and sale of residential real estate and claims involving the design and construction of accessible housing for the disabled; Creditors' rights and bankruptcy litigation, including the representation of secured and unsecured creditors, trustees and receivers in federal bankruptcy reorganization cases, state insolvency proceedings, loan restructuring, workout negotiations, and related litigation; Employment litigation, including claims of wrongful discharge, discrimination in employment, violation of wage and hour standards, sexual harassment, and violation of non-compete covenants; Health care litigation, including disputes involving federal and state regulatory issues, including health planning (CON), licensing and certification, fraud and abuse allegations, medical malpractice, medical staff issues, and insurance coverage; Estates and trusts litigation; and Tort claims on behalf of plaintiffs and defendants. Representative Matters: Gallagher recently achieved a substantial victory in successfully defending against a life-insurer’s attempts to rescind a multi-million dollar policy. Our client served as a court-appointed administrator of the insurance policy on behalf of 49 investors who had purchased fractional interests in the policy through a now-defunct viatical settlement company. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit affirmed a summary judgment decision declaring that the policy is valid and that all benefits under the policy were due and payable. This was a pivotal case not only for Gallagher’s client, but also for the secondary life insurance market nationwide. The Fourth Circuit’s decision represents the first time a federal appellate court has announced the general rule that an insurable interest exists where an insured purchases insurance on his or her own life with an intent to later assign the policy to a third party, so long as no agreement to assign the policy exists when the policy is issued. In a series of consumer class action lawsuits involving alleged excessive secondary mortgage fees, Gallagher successfully defended the subsidiaries of one of Maryland's largest banks. The Circuit Court for Baltimore City dismissed the claims and the appellate courts affirmed. Gallagher served as lead counsel in a receivership case involving a nationwide Ponzi scheme. Representing the court-appointed receiver and working closely with the Maryland Attorney General's office, our firm pursued actions from Maryland to California to shut down the $130 million scheme and recover assets for the 1,200 people who invested in the fraudulent securities. In U.S. v. City of Baltimore, Gallagher was selected by Baltimore's Mayor and City Solicitor to defend environmental claims brought by the U.S. Department of Justice and EPA, resulting in a $900 million consent decree to renovate the City's aging sewer infrastructure over 15 years. In a breach of contract claim involving our client, a leading publicly traded financial institution sued for $8.4 million in damages allegedly arising out of our client's repurchase of GNMA mortgage-backed securities. Gallagher prevailed in obtaining summary judgment on important aspects of the plaintiff’s claims, thereby removing much of the exposure. The parties then settled on terms that were favorable to our client. Representing a leading local developer in a project development and litigation case involving the construction of Baltimore's Marriott Waterfront Hotel, Gallagher defeated three separate lawsuits seeking to stop or delay the project. Recognizing that prompt resolution was nearly as important as winning, the Gallagher team moved these cases as quickly as possible through the trial court, the intermediate appellate court, and the state’s highest court to a final and successful resolution. The project was not delayed. In a project development matter, Gallagher led a successful effort on behalf of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore to obtain legal authority to demolish a dilapidated building that was once used as a monastery. Designated a historic landmark, our client concluded that renovating the building was financially unfeasible and sought approval to demolish the structure. The request was denied and the Archdiocese filed suit. On behalf of our client, Gallagher successfully argued that the denial violated our client's First Amendment Rights and constituted an unconstitutional taking of property. This case resulted in three published opinions and is a significant precedent in the areas of historic preservation, regulatory takings, and the First Amendment. Gallagher prevailed in a $20 million will-contest case against one of the largest law firm's in the world. After a month-long trial, the jury ruled in favor of our client finding no fraud, as was alleged, and upholding the disputed will. After achieving this victory, in a second lawsuit, Gallagher prevailed again recovering damages to help our client pay the estate taxes. Gallagher successfully represented Reaching Hearts International, a religious organization, in a two-week federal jury trial that resulted in a $3.7million jury verdict on claims under the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution and the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA). Gallagher represented a Montgomery County hospital in its successful quest to develop a state-of-the-art cardiac surgery, research, and training program, despite intense opposition from other hospitals wanting to initiate this service and from hospitals already providing cardiac surgery care. This ten-year legal battle included three decisions by the Court of Appeals (Maryland’s highest court), one decision rendered by the Court of Special Appeals, five Circuit Court cases, and three contested administrative proceedings. Gallagher served as counsel in a recent federal court decision granting a community hospital's summary judgment motion against a physician who challenged the hospital’s precautionary and permanent suspension of his medical staff privileges. In this case, the court found the hospital to be immune from liability under both the Health Care Quality Improvement Act and Maryland law. In a death penalty case, Gallagher accepted the difficult representation of saving a man's life through legal advocacy. Convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death, Kenneth Lloyd Collins had exhausted all of his state court appeals. Leading a team of attorneys, Gallagher's Peter Keith challenged the adequacy of prior counsel, the sufficiency of evidence, and other issues in a long series of post-conviction proceedings in the federal and state courts. After briefing and a hearing, the court vacated the original death sentence and imposed a new sentence of life imprisonment plus 40 years. Group Members