The national law firm of Quarles & Brady LLP announced that Lee P. Garner has joined the Firm’s Chicago office as a partner in the Commercial Litigation Group.

“We are pleased to welcome Lee Garner to Quarles & Brady,” said Ted Yi, co-office managing partner for the Chicago Office. “His knowledge and legal experience will be a great asset to the firm and our Commercial Litigation practice.”

Prior to joining Quarles & Brady, Garner practiced for 12 years in the Chicago office of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, where he had a broad national practice representing corporations and boards of directors in connection with the defense of shareholder suits, litigation involving mergers and acquisitions, and corporate investigations. Garner has handled complex and emergency litigation in a variety of federal and state courts throughout the United States. He has special expertise in litigating corporate governance and transactional issues in the context of corporate restructuring/bankruptcy cases.

Garner has represented many multinational corporations and boards of directors in securities class actions and in merger litigation involving allegations of breaches of fiduciary duty or contests among rival bidders. He often conducts complex internal investigations as part of his practice.

He represents mutual funds and fund boards in class action and derivative litigation over industry issues such as valuation of illiquid securities, activities of market timers, sales practices, and — most recently — in litigation regarding the failure of the market for auction rate preferred securities.

He received his law degree, cum laude, from Northwestern University School of Law and his undergraduate degree, with distinction, from the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill.