Gary Duvall brings 35 years of experience to his litigation clientele. His practice is uniquely varied, but concentrates in: insurance coverage, estate and trust litigation, employment law, and products liability. His practice is nationwide, representing major trust companies, manufacturers and employers.
Gary currently represents the Wealth Management Division of a major national bank with respect to its trust litigation and mediation. He has successfully represented trustees with respect to claims of breach of fiduciary duties, trust terminations, and other trust related issues. Gary has extensive experience in defending complex product liability cases ranging from aerial lifts to consumer power tools. Additionally, he has extensively counseled manufacturers on risk management issues throughout his career. Gary has served as regional counsel for the largest U.S. aerial lift manufacturer and an international power tool manufacturer.
As part of his risk management counseling, Gary has become intimately familiar with most business insurances and has litigated extensively in this area on behalf of policyholders. He has successfully recovered millions of dollars on behalf of his clients on a range of losses including environmental, fidelity, general casualty and D&O coverages. In the environmental arena, Gary has successfully litigated the issue of lost policies against major insurers, ultimately establishing the client's coverage rights.
With his representation of corporations in their litigation matters, Gary has been called on many times to assume representation of employment matters for his clients. This has led to a successful practice representing employers in a variety of employment claims including sexual discrimination and harassment, age discrimination, Fair Labor Standards Act, Americans With Disabilities Act claims and ERISA. Gary has not only litigated these claims in the Federal and State Courts, but has represented his clients in investigative proceedings before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and Maryland Commission on Human Relations. In part because of his numerous successes, Gary was named an approved counsel for a major insurer of employment practices liability coverage.
Credentials
American Bar Association: Litigation Committee on Employment and Labor Relations law, Litigation Section, Tort and Insurance Practice Section
Baltimore County Bar Association
Defense Research Institute
International Association of Defense Counsel
Maryland Association of Defense Counsel
Maryland Attorney Grievance Commission: Inquiry Panel
Maryland State Bar Association
Publications
"Congress Expands FMLA Rights for Military Families," Miles & Stockbridge News Brief (February 2008).
"Common Vacation Policies Called Into Question in Maryland," Miles & Stockbridge News Brief (November 08, 2007).
Representative Matters
Representing the beneficiary of several bank accounts titled jointly with rights of survivorship, we successfully defended a claim of undue influence raised by our client's nieces. The decedent's will directed that the estate be divided into four equal parts, with the nieces each receiving one-fourth of the estate. Prior to his death, the decedent re-titled his bank accounts naming our client as the beneficiary. The bank accounts constituted most of the decedent's wealth, leaving next to nothing in the estate.
Representing both trustees and estate beneficiaries, we have resolved successfully several complex spousal elective share claims.
Representing financial institutions in the resolution of a wide variety of general estate matters, we have handled cases requiring petitions for claims against the estate on behalf of a lender, and the negotiation of estate distributions for individual beneficiaries.
We routinely represent both individual and corporate trustees in litigation or disputes involving claims by beneficiaries or others of insufficient trust growth, the trustee's choice of trust investments, or the mishandling of trust assets.