George N. Vurdelja

George Vurdelja has almost 40 years of litigation experience, having handled trials and appeals in the state and federal courts with a focus on commercial litigation and trust litigation.  He spent ten years as an associate and partner at a major Chicago law firm, then opened his own solo practice.  After several years of solo practice he joined with a former partner to form a small litigation shop and finally joined Harrison & Held in 2007.  The varied experience has provided opportunities to manage bigger cases knowledgeably and handle more modest cases efficiently.

The people and businesses who make up Harrison & Held’s clientele encounter litigation in a wide variety of areas.  Most obvious is the trust and probate litigation arena, and George has handled numerous will contests and trust disputes.  Beyond those sorts of claims there are frequent battles over closely held corporations and LLCs, including disputes over the control, break-up and valuation of those entities—George has handled many such cases including litigating to a successful judgment or worthwhile settlement. George has considerable experience in contract disputes of all types, commercial torts (including fraud, tortious interference, trade disparagement/defamation, Lanham Act claims), disputes over restrictive covenants in employment relationships, real estate and construction disputes (both commercial and residential) and other related matters.

George has been successful with juries in cases involving, among other areas, contract disputes and will contests and with bench trials, including those involving contracts, business torts and disputes over closely-held companies.

George also has made good use of the various alternative dispute resolution services in handling many of his cases.  Regardless of whether a case involves an arbitration clause in a contract or a referral pursuant to court order or recommendation, he has found the selective use of those services to have benefited his clients.