By Sheila Pursglove
Legal News
Gerry Gleeson recalls once having to fly mid-trial to Amman, Jordan to depose Jordanian military officials at the U.S. Embassy.
“I was completely jet lagged, and the video allegedly shows the several cans of Coke that I drank to stay awake,” he says with a smile.
A principal at Miller Canfield in Troy, Gleeson has tried nearly 200 jury trials to verdict and successfully represented public and private companies and individuals in a variety of complex matters, including unlawful and unfair business practices, strike suits, non-compete cases, shareholder oppression, breach of contract, malpractice, and fraud cases. His criminal practice includes representing witnesses and targets in federal and state criminal investigations and prosecutions (including health care fraud, securities fraud, bank fraud, racketeering, money laundering, environmental crimes, assault, homicide, criminal sexual conduct, larceny, and embezzlement); and in family law, he has assisted in several divorce trials involving high-net-worth individuals.
Gleeson inherited his passion for the law from his father, who was an attorney for a couple of chemical companies before returning to private practice.
“Growing up, we had lawyers from around the country at the dinner table, and I was exposed to a really high level of practice listening in,” Gleeson says. “I clerked for my dad’s firm when I was 19, and got to spend a lot of time waiting and watching in court while I was doing the filing.”
Not that it was an easy road to earning his JD, cum laude, from Wayne State University Law School. After obtaining his bachelor’s degree from Kalamazoo College, Gleeson would spend his mornings working at the Bloomfield Hills law firm of Dawda, Mann, Mulcahy, & Sadler, before heading to afternoon and evening law classes.
“It was a tough schedule but very well worth it,” he says. “The education I received at Wayne was very practical. I had some very good professors there, and I felt I was prepared to practice law.”
During his final semester at Wayne Law, he started work at the Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office where he tried difficult, and sometimes high profile, cases including murder, rape, fraud, racketeering, child abuse, domestic violence, and juvenile delinquency.
“My dad’s mantra was, ‘real lawyers try cases.’ He felt if that’s what I wanted to do, the best place to do it was at a prosecutor’s office,” Gleeson says. “I think the wide variety of cases I handle now is just a natural progression of putting the trial skills I learned to work in all areas of litigation. And because Miller Canfield has such a deep bench of specialty-practice attorneys, there’s always someone around to make sure I’m up to speed on the finer points.”
Not only did Gleeson make close friends at the Prosecutor’s Office—including two who served as groomsmen at his wedding—but he also learned the ropes from a talented group of trial lawyers.
“It’s been great to see some of these lawyers become judges and others head over to the U.S. Attorney’s Office,” he says. “I also got the chance to try cases against a lot of very good defense attorneys.”
A highlight of the job was being in court every day, trying cases in front of many of the Oakland Circuit judges—including a lot of time before now-retired Steven N. Andrews.
“Judge Andrews demanded attorneys be fully prepared and simply would not tolerate lawyers who didn’t know what they were doing—or attorneys who were late for court,” Gleeson says. “The opportunity to try probably 100 jury trials in front of Judge Andrews was the most important part of my development as a trial lawyer.”
Gleeson, who recently returned from the Charlevoix Probate Court and a case contesting a huge estate, also had several recent big civil cases that settled on the eve of trial. Gleeson had to face off against the likes of Ed Pappas from Dickinson Wright, Keefe Brooks from Brooks, Wilkins, Sharkey, & Turco, and Rodger Young from Young & Associates.
“They’re among the cream of the crop,” he says. “Litigating cases against attorneys like that really ups your game and it’s somewhat of a disappointment not to be able to go the distance.”
He recently teamed with Mitch Ribitwer, of Ribitwer & Sabbota in Royal Oak, to defend a lawyer charged up in Emmet County. The two tried the case in Petoskey and secured an acquittal.
“I really enjoyed being up north in an interesting trial, with a great legal team, and in front of a tough judge,” Gleeson says.
A Fellow of the American Bar Foundation and of the Michigan State Bar Foundation—and with many activities through the State Bar and the Oakland County Bar Association—Gleeson frequently appears as a legal analyst for WXYZ Channel 7 in Detroit. He jokes that he is a “stunt double” for his colleague Tom Cranmer, who spearheads Miller Canfield’s Litigation and Trial Practice Group.
“Usually, I’m asked to appear when Tom has a conflict or is preparing for a trial of his own,” Gleeson says. “The best part about Channel 7 is how supportive everyone is. The reporters are all incredibly nice. The anchors take time during the commercial breaks to chat about things and get you comfortable. And all of the programming people behind the camera—who you never get to see—are really on the ball and the key to the news shows’ success. They even made me a DVD I could take up to my parents to watch. Then my brother mentioned that high definition TV shows my wrinkles too much.”
Gleeson—whose kudos include Best Lawyers in America, Michigan Super Lawyers, DBusiness Magazine, and Top 100 Trial Lawyers—has shared his expertise by teaching at Cooley Law School, the Oakland County Police Academy, and at the Oakland County Bar Association where he instructed new attorneys in the trial process. While no longer teaching full classes, he is sometimes asked to give advice and critique mock trial teams from the state’s law schools, including U-M and MSU.
“I remember what it was like learning the craft, and I think it’s important to give back because so many people have helped and advised me along the way,” he says.
Gleeson and his wife Rose, a major gifts officer at the Detroit Institute of Arts, live in Ferndale but are looking to settle in Detroit or Beverly Hills.
“Rose is the nicest person on the planet—and incredibly patient when I start gearing up to try a case,” Gleeson says.
The couple shares their home with Vreni, a German Shepherd and successor to Gleeson’s much-loved and now-departed pet Kayla.
“Rose will tell you I spoil Vreni outrageously,” he says. “Both Kayla and Vreni came from East German working dogs, which I think are the best German Shepherds around.”
A wizard in the kitchen as well as in the courtroom, Gleeson enjoys food, wine and craft beer. He learned about wine at an early age when he and his father would join Marc Jonna and Marc’s father, Eddy Jonna, owner of the Merchant of Vino, to taste French wines on Saturday mornings.
“It’s been great to see Marc and his brother Matt’s return with Plum Markets,” Gleeson says.
Gleeson’s parents, who live near Gaylord, spent several retirement winters in California’s Napa Valley, now one of his favorite places to relax. And this past summer, he and Rose enjoyed their honeymoon—delayed a couple of years by his heavy work schedule—in a small ocean village in Turkey.
“That was pretty awesome—no cell towers, a perfect beach, and all the food was grown nearby.”
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