George Cate is a trial lawyer who focuses his practice on business litigation, government enforcement proceedings, internal investigations, and related counseling. His experience includes advising clients on the management of complex legal matters that involve significant public scrutiny and exposure on multiple fronts, including civil, criminal, and reputational. George has served as a trusted advisor to companies and business executives across multiple industries, including healthcare, aviation, hospitality, real estate, petroleum, construction, professional sports, public power, book and digital content distribution, banking, and automobile manufacturing.
George’s business litigation experience includes the representation of U.S. and international clients in federal and state court. During his more than 30 years of practice, he has handled complex contract and business tort litigation between parties to a full range of commercial relationships; intra-company disputes involving corporations, limited liability companies, and partnerships; executive liability for violation of restrictive covenants and breach of fiduciary duty; misappropriation of trade secrets and other intellectual property disputes; bank fraud, embezzlement, and consumer fraud; lender and trustee liability and other litigation involving financial institutions; and a variety of other business disputes.
He also has represented businesses in personal injury cases, including the defense of automotive and aviation manufacturers in product liability litigation.
Over the course of his career, George has tried jury and bench trials in federal and state court. He has obtained the dismissal or other favorable pretrial disposition of many other cases and successfully prosecuted and defended a broad range of injunction proceedings.
While clients from various industries regularly seek George’s advice and counsel, a significant portion of his current practice is devoted to the aviation industry, focusing on airport-related business disputes, regulatory matters, and other counseling.
George also frequently advises hospitals, surgery centers, and other healthcare providers with respect to litigation and other business disputes; assists them with risk assessments in connection with mergers and acquisitions and other business transactions; and represents hospitals and their medical staff in peer review proceedings, including fair hearings and related appeals.
Over his career, George has represented companies and individuals in the defense of government enforcement actions and investigations. He has represented companies and individuals in civil, administrative, and criminal investigations brought by federal and state authorities; participated in the negotiation of agreements to avoid criminal charges and resolve civil and administrative claims; and defended government enforcement proceedings in court and before government agencies.
George also has represented companies in internal investigations, including cases where employees allegedly engaged in schemes to defraud the company or the public. He has led internal investigations to address allegations of employee misconduct and non-compliance and to assist clients in evaluating the sufficiency of internal controls.