MICHAEL GRETCHEN is a Partner with Fellows LaBriola who represents plaintiffs and defendants in complex litigation.

Business Litigation – Michael represents corporate and individual clients in all manner of business litigation, including insurance coverage and bad faith disputes, partnership disputes, fraud and misrepresentation claims, breach of fiduciary duty claims, federal and state RICO claims, federal and state securities claims, and class action claims.

Personal Injury – Michael also represents injured clients and families in catastrophic personal injury and wrongful death cases. He has helped recover millions for his clients in cases involving medical malpractice, tractor-trailer and automobile accidents, and premises liability.

Michael has argued several cases in the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit and the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, and he is licensed to practice in all state and federal courts in Georgia.

Michael graduated cum laude from the University of Georgia School of Law, where he obtained several honors in moot court, mock trial, and law journal programs. Before law school, Michael graduated cum laude from Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia, with a degree in Classics and Politics.

Michael lives in the Oakhurst neighborhood of Decatur with his wife, Anna, a pediatric nurse practitioner.

Representative Work

• In Wade Park Land Holdings, LLC et al. v. Jonathan Kalikow et al., 2021 WL 728185, ___ F.Supp.3d ____ (N.D. Ga. 2021), Michael successfully defeated claims brought against their client for (1) federal RICO violations; (2) federal RICO conspiracy; (3) Georgia RICO violations; (4) Georgia RICO conspiracy; (5) breach of fiduciary duty; (6) conspiracy to breach fiduciary duties; (7) misappropriation of trade secrets under the Georgia Trade Secrets Act (“GTSA”); (8) punitive damages; and (9) attorneys’ fees. By Order entered on February 24, 2021, U.S. District Judge Timothy C. Batten, Sr., granted his client’s motion to dismiss the Amended Complaint. The Court transferred the remainder of the case involving the other defendants to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

• In Cisneros v. Petland, Inc., et al., 972 F.3d 1204 (11th Cir. 2020), Michael successfully defeated a purported RICO class action against his client, Petland, Inc. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit affirmed the U.S. District Court’s grant of their motion to dismiss the class action complaint. The Court determined that the complaint failed to state an association-in-fact RICO claim against Petland, Inc., and its franchisee, failed to allege that the defendants engaged in a pattern of racketeering activity, and failed to allege that the purported racketeering activity was of a continuing nature.

• In Singleton v. Petland Mall of Georgia LLC et al., 2020 WL 3400194 (N.D. Ga. Mar. 18, 2020), Michael successfully defeated claims against his client, Petland, Inc. for negligence and negligent misrepresentation. By Order dated March 18, 2021, U.S. District Judge Eleanor Ross granted his client’s Motion to Dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction.

• In com, Inc. v. AT&T Corp., Verio, Inc., NTT America, Inc., and Genacom, Inc., Civil Action File No. 1:18-cv-1647-MHC, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, Atlanta Division, Michael his co-counsel successfully defended NTT America, Inc., and Verio, Inc., in this action in which the plaintiffs claimed that the defendants engaged in fraud, RICO violations, and violations of the Georgia Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices Act. By Order entered on January 10, 2019, the federal district court granted the defendants’ motions to dismiss the complaint. By Order entered on October 16, 2019, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit affirmed the federal district court’s dismissal of the complaint. See My24HourNews.com, Inc. v. AT&T Corp., 791 Fed. Appx. 788 (11th Cir. 2019)

• In Cisneros v. Petland, Inc., et al., 341 F.Supp. 1365 (N.D. Ga. 2018), Michael successfully defended Petland, Inc., in this purported class action in which the plaintiffs claimed that the defendants engaged in federal and Georgia RICO violations associated with the sale and care of pets. By Order entered on April 17, 2018, the federal district court granted Petland’s motion to dismiss and the other defendants’ motions to dismiss the federal RICO claims. Michael then successfully defended the case on appeal in front of a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.

• In Cobra Tactical, Inc. et al. v. Payment Alliance International Inc., 315 F.Supp.3d 1342 (N.D. Ga. 2018), Michael and his co-counsel successfully defended Payment Alliance International Inc. (“PAI”) in this purported class action in which the plaintiffs claimed that the defendants charged them unauthorized and excessive fees for merchant payment processing services. The U.S. District Court granted PAI’s motion to dismiss and the other defendants’ motions to dismiss the class action complaint.

Education

• University of Georgia School of Law, J.D., cum laude
  • Best Oralist & Finalist — National Moot Court Competition.
  • Best Advocate, National South Texas Mock Trial Challenge.
  • Best Oralist – Talmadge Moot Court Competition.
  • Finalist – Richard B. Russell Moot Court Competition.
  • Georgia Journal of Intellectual Property Law, Notes Editor.
  • National Order of Barristers
• Washington and Lee University, B.A., Classics and Politics, cum laude
  • State Chair, Mock Convention.

Honors

• Catholic Charities of Atlanta, Leadership Class (2021-22)
• Leadership Buckhead (2018-19)
• Leadership Academy, State Bar of Georgia, Young Lawyer’s Division (2018)
• Rising Star, 2018-present

Professional Activities

• State Bar of Georgia
  • Young Lawyers Division
  • Co-Chair-YLD Business Law Committee (2018-2019)
• Atlanta Bar Association
  • Litigation Section
  • Atlanta Council of Younger Lawyers – Board Member (2018-2019)
  • Co-Chair, Associates’ Campaign (2019)
• Federal Bar Association
• Joseph Henry Lumpkin American Inn of Court (2018 – 2021)
• The Judge Clarence Cooper American Inn of Court (2017 – present)
• St. Thomas More Society
• Parishioner, Cathedral of Christ the King