Professional Experience
Gerard Mantese concentrates his practice on business law, including shareholder and member disputes, oppression, fiduciary duties, real estate, and business contracts. He argued the only two shareholder and member oppression cases ever accepted for review by the Michigan Supreme Court – Madugula v. Taub, 496 Mich. 685 (2014) and Frank v. Linkner, 500 Mich. 133 (2017).
Mr. Mantese is a member of the State Bars of Michigan, New York, Florida and Missouri, as well as a member of the Bar of the United States Supreme Court, the Federal Courts of Appeal for the Third, Sixth, and Ninth Circuits, and the Federal District Courts in the Eastern and Western Districts of Michigan.
Mantese and his firm focus on complex commercial and business litigation and arbitration for a wide range of business and commercial clients, including breach of contract cases, employment disputes, partnership and shareholder disputes, commercial fraud cases, trade secret and non-compete litigation, real estate litigation, Uniform Commercial Code disputes, business torts, and class actions, in state and federal courts and venues across the country.
Every year since 2012, the firm has recovered multi-million-dollar verdicts and settlements in the State of Michigan, as reported in the January issue of Michigan Lawyers Weekly for the preceding year.
ASSOCIATE, THEN PARTNER, HONIGMAN MILLER SCHWARTZ AND COHN, 1982-1994
Elected as one of the youngest senior partners in firm history (1990).
Handled a wide array of complex business litigation.
Service to the Legal Profession
Awarded the State Bar of Michigan’s highest honor, conferred to commend lawyers “for their unselfish rendering of outstanding and unique service to and on behalf of the State Bar of Michigan, the legal profession, and public.” Service included years of advocating for survivors of domestic violence, and instructing students about our legal system.
Awarded for years of advocating for children with autism and obtaining successful rulings in cases that provided insurance coverage for Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) therapy, which offers autistic children and their families the opportunity to live fuller lives and participate in mainstream society. See, e.g., Potter v. Blue Cross, Case No. 10-cv-14981, 10 F.Supp.3d 737 (E.D. Mich. 2014).
CO-CHAIR, CORPORATION LAW COMMITTEE, NEW YORK COUNTY LAWYERS ASSOCIATION, MARCH 2022
Service to the State Bar and Community
- Appointed to Access of Justice Committee, Metro Detroit, to enable those with insufficient funds to access the legal justice system.
- Devoted hundreds of hours of uncompensated time, 2009-2015, assisting parents across the US with legal strategies for accessing Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) therapy for their children, from available insurance coverage. This therapy is a life-changing behavioral therapy that is critically important for young children with Autism.
- Co-authored food waste bill calling for food producers to donate 10% of their excess food to food pantries and related facilities. Published article advocating same, The Wave of the Future, Michigan Lawyers Weekly, May 28, 2018.
- Mediator – Case Evaluator. Appointed in Oakland County Circuit Court (1994-present); Wayne County Circuit Court (1995-present); and Macomb County Circuit Court (2005-present).
- Hearing Panelist on State Bar of Michigan’s Attorney Discipline Board. Conducted hearings on a volunteer basis on attorney grievance and professional misconduct complaints (1997-2015).
- Adjunct Professor of Law, 1991 – 1997:
- Trial Practice, 1991-1993, University of Detroit Mercy, School of Law.
- Pretrial Practice, 1993-1997, Wayne State University Law School (strategies of motion practice, discovery, negotiations, trial preparation and trial).
- Member of Michigan Bar Journal Committee charged with publishing the State-wide Michigan Bar Journal (1994-present), reviewing and editing articles.
- Initiator and Co-editor of the Best Practices Column, Michigan Bar Journal.
- Director, First Step, Western Wayne County Project on Domestic Violence (Pro Bono). Also founded and directed “Family Law Assistance Project” (1990s), which coordinated approximately 50 volunteer attorneys to provide free legal advice to low-income women experiencing domestic violence. The program became a model for shelters in other States.
- Ongoing service for United Community Housing Coalition, providing assistance to Detroit’s low-income residents facing evictions, serving food at community soup kitchens, and donor to Wayne State Free Legal Aid Clinic, Care House, Capuchin Soup Kitchen, and Gleaners.
- Mentored 22 eighth graders at Girls Middle School at Cranbrook, on a project about Women Who Change the World (2014-2015). Spent six months assisting students in selecting, interviewing and writing chapters on accomplished women, including Supreme Court Justices Maura Corrigan and Bridget McCormack, and Prosecutor Kym Worthy.
- Law Day volunteer, 2012, 2013 and 2014. Led 20 grade school and middle school-aged students in learning about the law and creating, acting and filming three separate films, each winning first place in the annual Michigan Law Day Contest, 2012 – 2014. The films dealt with three legal milestones, specifically the trials of Roosevelt v. Newett; Korematsu v. US; and US v. Sinclair (students interviewed US District Court Judge Nancy Edmunds, E.D. Mich., and US Attorney Barbara McQuade, among others, about Fourth Amendment issues).
Mantese Case Results
Mantese and his team also obtained the following recoveries, as reported in Lawyers Weekly:
2023
- Franks v. Franks, St. Joseph County Court – After 11 day trial, Mantese, as co-lead counsel, obtained judgment in the form of $2.1 Million dividend payment, plus appointment of outside Director, in shareholder oppression case focusing on breach of fiduciary duty and dividend starvation.
2022
- Confidential Settlement – Mantese recovers $8.2 Million in shareholder oppression case.
2021
- Confidential Arbitration – Mantese recovers $35.4 Million in shareholder dispute case.
- Confidential Settlement – Mantese recovers $40 Million in cash and real property in a dispute involving a family real estate empire and oppressive conduct.
- Class Action Settlement – Mantese recovers $9.2 Million in shareholder class action case.
2020
- Confidential Settlement – Mantese recovers $2.4 Million in shareholder dispute case.
- Confidential Settlement – Mantese recovers $1.3 Million in breach of contract and fiduciary duty claim case.
- Confidential Settlement – Mantese recovers $6 Million in breach of contract case.
- Confidential Settlement – Mantese recovers $11.25 Million in shareholder oppression and breach of fiduciary duty case.
- Confidential Settlement – Mantese recovers $11.1 Million in shareholder oppression suit.
2019
- In Re Auto Parts Antitrust Litigation – As Liaison Class Counsel, Mantese and team recover $28.54 Million for auto dealers harmed by defendants’ price fixing of auto parts. This multi-year prosecution was one of the largest price-fixing class action cases in history and included claims under Section 1 of the Sherman Act.
- Confidential Settlement – Mantese recovers $1 Million in breach of contract case.
2018
- Confidential Settlement – Mantese recovers $97 Million in breach of fiduciary duty and shareholder oppression case.
- Confidential Settlement – Mantese recovers $23 Million in shareholder oppression and breach of fiduciary duty case.
- Confidential Settlement – Mantese recovers $12.35 Million in shareholder oppression case.
- Confidential Settlement – Mantese recovers $2 Million in oppression, breach of contract case.
- In Re Auto Parts Antitrust Litigation –As Liaison Class Counsel, Mantese and team recover $79.2 Million for auto dealers harmed by defendants’ price fixing of auto parts.
2017
- Confidential Settlement – Mantese recovers $1.25 Million in shareholder oppression, breach of fiduciary duty, breach of contract case.
- Confidential Settlement – Mantese recovers $900,000 in shareholder oppression, breach of fiduciary duty, breach of contract case.
- Orlowski v. Bates, USDC WDTN – Mantese appointed co-lead counsel and obtains summary judgment for $25 Million in class action against a seller of precious metals, alleging fraud and breach of contract. Mantese’s initiation of suit led to prosecution and conviction of defendant.
2016
- Madugula v. Taub, Washtenaw County Circuit Court – Mantese recovers $1.55 Million in shareholder oppression case.
- Confidential Settlement – Mantese recovers $2.2 Million in breach of contract case.
- Confidential Settlement – Mantese recovers $2.1 Million in shareholder oppression case.
- Confidential Settlement – Mantese recovers $1 Million in breach of fiduciary duty, fraud and shareholder oppression case.
- In Re Auto Parts Antitrust Litigation – As Liaison Class Counsel, Mantese and team recover $125 Million for auto dealers harmed by defendants’ price fixing of auto parts.
2015
- Confidential Settlement – Mantese recovers $15.2 Million in member oppression under MCL 450.4515, breach of fiduciary duty case.
- Confidential Settlement – Mantese recovers $1.32 Million in breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, and tortious interference case.
- Confidential Settlement – Mantese recovers $1.2 Million in shareholder oppression and breach of fiduciary duty case.
- Confidential Arbitration – Mantese recovers $3.125 Million for member oppression
- In Re Auto Parts Antitrust Litigation – As Liaison Class Counsel, Mantese and team recover $58 Million for auto dealers harmed by defendants’ price fixing of auto parts.
2013
- Confidential Settlement – Mantese recovers $7.45 Million in breach of contract case.
- Confidential Settlement – Mantese recovers $2.1 Million in shareholder oppression, breach of fiduciary duty, breach of contract case.
- Confidential Settlement – Mantese recovers $2 Million in breach of contract, fraud, fraud in inducement case.
- Estes v. Clark, Foy v. Bandemer, Wayne County Circuit Court – As co-lead counsel, Mantese recovers $7.999 Million in breach of fiduciary duty class action case.
- Confidential Settlement – Mantese recovers $2.455 Million in a claim under ERISA alleging that plan administrator acted arbitrarily and capriciously.
- Potter, et al. v. Blue Cross Blue Shield, USDC EDMI – Mantese recovered $2.1 Million in a claim under ERISA alleging that plan administrator acted arbitrarily and capriciously.
- Minter, et al. v. Dazzo, et al., USDC EDMI – As co-lead counsel, Mantese obtains settlement resulting in excess of $52 Million in Medicaid benefits for parents of children with ASD; case filed under 42 USC Section 1983.
2012
- Confidential Settlement – Mantese recovers $13 Million in shareholder oppression, breach of fiduciary duty, usurpation of corporate opportunities case.
- Schwannecke, et al. v Schwannecke, et al., Saginaw County Circuit Court – Mantese recovers $4.59 Million in shareholder and member oppression, breach of fiduciary duty, and breach of contract discharge case.
- Confidential Settlement – Mantese recovers $1.2 Million in shareholder oppression, breach of fiduciary duty, breach of contract case.
2011
- Abass, et al. v. Shalushi, et al., USDC EDMI – Mantese obtains $172.2 Million judgment in RICO, fraud, breach of contract case.
- Sweeney v. Mucci Food Products, Ltd., et al., Wayne County Circuit Court – Mantese recovers $2.3 Million in shareholder oppression, breach of fiduciary duty, breach of contract case.
- Confidential Settlement – Mantese recovers $1.435 Million in shareholder dispute over value of law firm.
Publications and Presentations
- Succession Planning and the Approaching Massive Transfer of Wealth, Michigan Bar Journal, July/August 2024.
- Business Law: The Ripple Effects of Our Work, Michigan Bar Journal, July/August 2024.
- Corporate Law Issues from a National Perspective: an Essay on a Director's Duty of Oversight - Caremark and Marchand, The Michigan Business Law Journal, Fall 2023.
- Shareholder Oppression and the Quest for Fairness, Journal of the Missouri Bar, September-October 2023.
- Shareholder Oppression and Business Divorces, Michigan Bar Journal, September 2022.
- Business and Commercial Litigation in Federal Courts: Fifth Edition Book Review, Michigan Bar Journal, August 2022.
- Business Divorces and the Shareholder Primacy Norm, The Litigation Journal, Spring/Summer 2022.
- Shareholder Oppression Litigation - A National Perspective, The Michigan Business Law Journal, Fall 2020.
- The Fiduciary Duty - Et tu, Brute?, Michigan Bar Journal, September 2020.
- Commentary: 'I don't have time for pro bono,' Michigan Lawyers Weekly, July 2020.
- The Verdict on the Business Judgment Rule, Journal of the Missouri Bar, March-April 2020.
- The Business Judgment Rule, Michigan Bar Journal, January 2020.
- Business Litigation Theme Introduction, Michigan Bar Journal, January 2020.
- Operating Agreements, Partnership Agreements, and Shareholder Agreements: Business Contracts and Their Consequences, Journal of the Missouri Bar, January-February 2019.
- Shareholder Agreements, Operating Agreements, and Partnership Agreements, Michigan Bar Journal, September 2018.
- The Wave of the Future – Reducing Food Waste, Reducing Hunger, Protecting the Environment, Michigan Lawyers Weekly, May 2018.
- Contractual Terms in Shareholder/Operating Agreements, Stout Risius Ross Journal, April 2018.
- Presented to Michigan Business Law Judges on Shareholder and Member Disputes at the Michigan Judicial Institute Business Court Judicial Seminar, May 2018.
- Recent Trends in New York Partnership Law, NY Business Law Journal, Winter 2017.
- Litigation Between Shareholders in Closely-Held Corporations; Protecting Minority Shareholders From Abuse at the Hands of Majority Owners, Wayne Law Journal of Business, August 2017.
- A Trip to Detroit’s 36th District Court, Michigan Lawyers Weekly, May 8, 2017.
- Michigan Business Courts and Oppression – A Review of How Michigan Business Courts Have Treated Oppression Issues Since Madugula v. Taub, Michigan Bar Journal, January 2017.
- Navigating the World of Fiduciary Duty Within The Corporate Context, Missouri Bar Journal, September-October 2016.
- Can’t We All Just Get Along? Fiduciary Duties in the Corporate and LLC Context, The Michigan Business Law Journal, Spring 2016.
- Lights, Camera, Action! -- The Power of Video Depositions in Business Litigation, Michigan Bar Journal, February 2016.
- Lectured to Cranbrook High School Students on Starting Your Own Business, November 2015.
- Michigan Supreme Court Speaks: Madugula v. Taub and Shareholder Oppression, Michigan Bar Journal, November 2014.
- Shareholder Oppression, Fiduciary Duty, and Partnership Litigation in Closely Held Companies, Stout Risius Ross Journal, November 2014.
- Fiduciary Duty in Business Litigation, Michigan Bar Journal, August 2014.
- Trial Practice, Michigan Bar Journal, January 2013.
- Lectured before the New State of Michigan Business Court Judges Appointed to the Business Court Docket, 2013.
- Shareholder and Corporate Oppression Actions, Michigan Bar Journal, February 2012.
Education
- J.D. (summa cum laude), Saint Louis University School of Law, 1982
- Graduated First in Class
- Awarded Academic Merit Scholarship for All Three Years
- B.A. (summa cum laude), University of Missouri – St. Louis, Political Science, 1979
- GPA 4.0/4.0
- Awarded Senator Symington Scholarship
- Appointed to University Senate (prepared and supported a Resolution requiring the University to divest itself of all investments in South Africa to protest that country’s racial discrimination and apartheid practices, 1979)
Admissions
- State Bar of Florida
- State Bar of Michigan
- State Bar of Missouri
- State Bar of New York
- United States Supreme Court
- United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
- United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
- United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
- United States District Court, Eastern District of Michigan
- United States District Court, Western District of Michigan
Representative Cases
- Frank v. Linkner, 500 Mich. 133 (2017).
The Court held that MCL 450.4515 is a statute of limitations, not of repose; oppressed LLC members may be able to sue even before incurring financial harm; members may toll the statute if there is fraudulent concealment of relevant facts.
- Madugula v. Taub, 496 Mich. 685 (2014).
The Court held oppression action is equitable, empowering the trial court with wide latitude to resolve shareholder disputes.
- Potter, et al. v. Blue Cross, Case No. 10-cv-14981, 10 F.Supp.3d 737 (E.D. Mich. 2014).
Co-lead counsel in a nationwide ERISA class action against Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan arising from denial of insurance coverage for ABA therapy on the grounds that the therapy is allegedly experimental. The Court granted Plaintiffs’ Motion for Judgment and held that Defendant’s denial of coverage for ABA therapy was arbitrary and capricious under ERISA (03-30-13 Order, Doc. #125). Over $2 Million recovered.
- Minter, et al. v. Dazzo, Case No. 10-cv-15018 (USDC EDMI 2010).
Co-lead counsel. Obtained a ground-breaking settlement causing the State of Michigan to provide Medicaid coverage for ABA therapy for children with autism.
- Churchill v. CIGNA, Case No. 10-6911 (USDC EDPA 2010).
Co-lead counsel in a nationwide ERISA class action against CIGNA arising from denial of insurance coverage for ABA therapy on the grounds that it was allegedly experimental. The Court confirmed a settlement under which class members received reimbursement for ABA therapy.
- Billstein, et al. v. Goodman, et al., Case No. 08-cv-13415 (USDC EDMI 2008).
Represented Plaintiffs in shareholder oppression matter where the Court denied Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment as to statute of limitations and repose. Case settled for a confidential amount on fifth day of trial (06-14-11 Order, Doc. #454).
- Johns v. Blue Cross, Case No. 08-cv-12272 (USDC EDMI 2008).
Awards and Recognitions
- Martindale-Hubbell Rating, AV® Preeminent™ (highest rating for legal ability and ethics) (1996 – present)
- Best Lawyers in America
- Michigan Super Lawyer, Super Lawyers Magazine (2007 – present)
- Repeatedly recognized as one of Top 50 Business Lawyers in Michigan
- 21st Century Innovator Award
- Leader in the Law Award, Lawyers Weekly (2009)
- Outstanding Young Lawyer of the Year, Lawyers Weekly (2009)