Patrick F Geary

Attorney - Shareholder

Practice Areas

Industry Teams

Agricultural and Agribusiness Industry Team

Contact

Office: Grand Rapids

tel. 616.458.5358

fax. 616.774.2461

V-Card

Secretary

Reathel Brown

tel. 616.458.9369

Pat has over 35 years of experience as a respected trial attorney representing clients in and out of the courtroom in various business and corporate litigation disputes. He also advises businesses on matters such as risk management and contracts. Pat also represents insurance companies and businesses in the resolution of disputes concerning the existence and scope of insurance coverage.

Among other matters, Pat regularly assists his clients in the following:

Acting as outside general counsel to businesses.
Providing affirmative means of protection against liability through contract provisions such as limited warranties, insurance requirements, or indemnification that limit claims or divert them to others.
Resolving commercial disputes and product liability claims through the litigation process when other forms of dispute resolution do not succeed.
Managing claims against his clients brought in jurisdictions throughout the country.

Pat has a thorough understanding of the business ramifications that legal issues cause and concentrates on formulating legal solutions that will achieve his clients' business goals. In addition, the depth of his experience in business-related matters allows him to effectively counsel his clients by translating legal issues into common sense terms that apply directly to their businesses.

Pat served as Chief Executive Officer of Smith Haughey from 2003 to 2009. He currently serves as President and General Counsel of the firm and chair of the firm’s Product Liability Department.

Pat is married to Patricia, and they have four children: Sean, Colleen, Brendan, and Ailis.

Noteworthy

AV Peer Review Rated, Martindale-Hubbell
Listed as a "Michigan Super Lawyer" (2006-2012) -- Business Litigation

Education

University of Notre Dame (B.A., with high honors, 1972). Phi Beta Kappa.
University of Michigan (J.D., with honors, 1975)

Admitted to Practice

Illinois, 1975
Michigan, 1991
Supreme Court of the United States
Various Federal Courts of Appeal and District Courts

Client Successes for Patrick F Geary

6/1/2009
Pat Geary, Dale Hebert, and Kristen Ray achieved a significant result for our client, a retail grocer, in a case brought against it by the receiver for insurance in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. We moved to dismiss or to transfer venue to the Western District, arguing that venue was improper in the Eastern District. The Court agreed and ordered the case transferred to the Western District.
3/1/2009
Pat Geary successfully represented a shipping supplies company in a case that ended in settlement. As a result, the company and a family LLC received a substantial recovery on the claim against the insurer following a fire. In addition, Smith Haughey also recently ended two other cases for the shipping supplies company, in which, with Rachel Roe's help, we sued to enforce two non-compete agreements and were awarded with favorable orders restricting former employees from contacting customers and prospects of the company and ordered the siblings to pay for the examination out of funds they control. Our client will end up with a roadmap to recover any misspent assets at no cost to her.