Stephanie Gase - Partner

Stephanie Gase heads Leader Berkon Colao & Silverstein’s Dallas office. She routinely appears in federal and state courts across the country on behalf of plaintiffs and defendants in all phases of complex commercial, environmental, and civil rights litigation. 

Commercial Litigation

Stephanie’s experience spans a broad range of commercial issues, including contractual disputes, business torts, intellectual property matters, breach of fiduciary duties, fraud, and securities law violations. Current and past matters include:

• Representation of corporation in prosecuting claims against its former law firm for breaches of fiduciary and contractual duties;
• Second-chaired trial in intentional infliction of emotional distress case where plaintiff sought over $50 million in damages from high-profile client in the entertainment industry;
• First-chaired two-week trial after being engaged less than a week before trial and successfully limited damages to approximately $300,000 from plaintiff seeking over $110 million in economic and punitive damages;
• Representation of construction business in arbitration and state court action relating to a fraudulently induced business arrangement that forced client into bankruptcy;
• Defense of business against Lanham Act claims relating to the sale of merchandise;
• Defense of a publicly-traded manufacturing corporation, including successfully setting aside a $4 million default judgment and vacating the underlying entry of default, in a federal action alleging breach of contract and state retailer protection statutes;
• Defense of UK-based marine electronics company in an ITC § 337 investigation brought by a Japanese competitor for the alleged infringement of patents related to radar, chart-plotting, mapping, and cockpit multi-function display (MFD) technologies; obtained a favorable settlement and cross-license agreement; and
• Successful negotiation of resolution of misappropriation of trade secret claim that resulted in consent judgment and permanent injunction in favor of Fortune 100 client.

Environmental / Toxic Tort / Product Liability

Stephanie works on a wide range of environmental matters, including claims for nuisance, negligence, and trespass for personal injuries and property damage, as well as statutory claims under CERCLA, RCRA, and numerous state law environmental statutes. She has defended toxic tort and product liability lawsuits ranging from a single individual claimant to large class actions. Stephanie works with some of the leading experts in the fields of toxicology, epidemiology, remediation, engineering, and medicine. Current and past matters include: 

• Defense of Fortune-100 client in a natural resources damages action (NRDA) brought by the Attorney General of Minnesota seeking to recover over $5 billion for the alleged damage to groundwater, surface water and soil caused by the alleged environmental release of perfluorochemicals (PFCs);
• Defense of Fortune-100 client in class actions in Alabama related to bodily injury and property damage allegedly caused by the environmental release of perfluoro alkyl substances (PFAS), such as PFOS and PFOA, from a manufacturing plant;
• Defense of Fortune-100 client in environmental cost recovery actions under CERCLA, RCRA, and other environmental statutes in Minnesota and Alabama;
• Defense of a major secondary lead producer in an environmental cost recovery action under CERCLA and other environmental statutes in Indiana; and
• Defense of Fortune-100 client in class and individual actions in Colorado, Pennsylvania, New York, and Massachusetts related to bodily injury or property damage allegedly caused by the use and release of AFFF, a fire-fighting foam product.

Civil Rights

Stephanie is experienced and knowledgeable in litigating constitutional issues and is committed to ensuring our clients’ constitutional rights are protected. Our firm’s commitment to pursuing justice includes zealous representation ranging from prosecuting claims of constitutional violations from abuses of power by government agencies and officials, to tackling and eliminating voting issues that leave minorities underrepresented or without representation at all. Current and past matters include: 

• Representation of individual in Section 1983 action based on police officers’ excessive force that lead to permanent infertility;
• Pursuit of claims against state governor and regulatory agency for violation of First and Fourteenth Amendment rights because of unconstitutional censorship campaign based on client’s political views; and
• Pursuit of claims against school board districts for violations of the Voting Rights Act.