Karl Geercken serves as Alston and Bird’s General Counsel. He has experience representing clients across the U.S. and the world in a broad range of complex, high-stakes commercial litigation and arbitration. Mr. Geercken is fluent in German and is also the co-leader of the firm’s German Practice Team and a member of the Global Business Strategies Team.
Mr. Geercken focuses on the business goal of the client and works with his team to devise a strategy that supports it. He emphasizes early, thorough case assessment as a tool to reduce uncertainty in litigation.
In addition to his work for U.S. clients in manufacturing, financial services, technology, life sciences, pharmaceuticals, real estate, and other industries, Mr. Geercken has represented a number of ultra-high net worth individuals in a variety of business disputes and art law matters. He frequently manages parallel U.S. and foreign litigation and has extensive experience in cross-border litigation. Mr. Geercken has also been called upon to represent foreign governments or their agencies in U.S. courts. As a result, he has developed insight into handling issues common to international dispute resolution, including those relating to the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA), the Act of State Doctrine and obtaining discovery abroad.