Gary Leydig is a trial attorney and counselor servicing businesses and business owners in connection with their commercial transactions and disputes. He is also a mediator and arbitrator of commercial, real property and construction disputes. Mr. Leydig handles arbitrations, jury and bench trials, injunctions, equitable remedies and appeals in state and federal courts in Illinois and throughout the United States. Mr. Leydig devotes considerable attention to the representation of franchisees, dealers and distributors.
Mr. Leydig’s clients hail from the Chicago area and from across the country. He typically counsels and represents individual entrepreneurs and small to medium size businesses, and is engaged in suits pending in jurisdictions throughout the United States. Every commercial dispute, including those involving franchises and dealerships, presents unique challenges and a thorough understanding of the broad spectrum of laws affecting business transactions. Mr. Leydig approaches each matter with commitment, integrity and a focused effort on achieving the client’s desired goals.
Mr. Leydig continues to achieve successes for his clients under even the most difficult situations. In Minnesota Supply Company v The Raymond Corporation, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit affirmed a jury verdict of more than 12.8 million dollars, plus attorneys’ fees. Mr. Leydig brought that suit on behalf of a Minnesota lift truck dealer that had been wrongfully terminated.
In Girl Scouts of Manitou Council v Girl Scouts of the USA, he has achieved repeated success in the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. In the first appeal, the Seventh Circuit adopted his argument that a local, nonprofit Girl Scouts council was entitled to the protections of a “dealer” under the Wisconsin Fair Dealership Law (WFDL). The Court of Appeals ordered the extraordinary remedy of preliminarily enjoining the national Girl Scouts organization from interfering with or removing any of the territory or jurisdiction of the client’s council. In the second appeal, the Court of Appeals again reversed the lower court, this time agreeing with Mr. Leydig’s argument that enforcement of the WFDL in this case caused no interference with the national organization’s First Amendment right of expressive association. The Seventh Circuit ordered judgment in favor of the council and directed the lower court to order appropriate relief. The Court of Appeals further ordered that the preliminary injunction be reinstated for the protection of the council.
Recently, Mr. Leydig had the privilege of pursuing and arguing on appeal one of the very first cases to be brought under Illinois’ newly enacted Citizens Participation Act. That Act seeks to prevent the use of abusive litigation as a means of punishing or preventing citizens’ exercise of their First Amendment rights of speech and to petition the government. In Hytel Group v Butler, Leydig represented the former Controller of Hytel. After being let go from her position, she filed a claim with the Illinois Department of Labor to recover nominal wages still owed her. In retaliation, her former employer slapped a multi-million dollar law suit against her. Leydig stepped in at that point and successfully had the case dismissed under the new law. He also recovered the attorneys’ fees incurred in getting the case dismissed. The dismissal and fee award were affirmed on appeal, with the Illinois Court of Appeals finding that the fees awarded in the lower court should have been even more.
Typical of the matters Gary Leydig handles, these cases forged new arguments and made new law in support of his clients. The Girl Scouts case, for example, is the first appellate decision in the nation to apply a state’s franchise or dealership statute to nonprofits.
Illinois Super Lawyers 2012
Illinois Super Lawyers 2010
Illinois Super Lawyers 2009
Illinois Super Lawyers 2008
Illinois Super Lawyers 2007
Illinois Super Lawyers 2006
Admitted: 1980, Illinois
Professional Webpage: www.leydiglaw.com/overview.html
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Super Lawyers is a rating service of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high-degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. The selection process is multi-phased and includes independent research, peer nominations and peer evaluations.