Attorneys

Experience

Allan Galis is a partner with HunterMaclean’s litigation group. His practice focuses on commercial disputes, contract matters, and real estate disputes. Allan also serves as the Firm’s hiring partner.

Originally from Athens, Georgia, Allan graduated cum laude from the University of Georgia School of Law, where he served as the notes editor for the Georgia Journal of International and Comparative Law and an executive board member for the Georgia Negotiations Competition Team. He earned a B.A., magna cum laude, from Washington and Lee University in 2006 where he double-majored in Political Science and Philosophy.

Published Opinions

Representative Engagements

  • Lead trial counsel and co-appellate counsel in successful defense of a class action challenging the legality of Georgia’s litigation funding industry under the Georgia Industrial Loan Act and the Georgia Payday Lending Act.
  • Obtained summary judgment in favor of a large marine carrier in a personal injury action brought by a longshoreman.
  • Defeated, on summary judgment, $32 million breach of contract claim asserted against one of the nation’s largest publicly traded suppliers of aggregates and heavy building materials.
  • Secured $8 million judgment, including client’s attorney’s fees, for large commercial landlord in lease dispute against national franchise tenant.
  • Obtained $3.5 million judgment, including client’s attorney’s fees, for commercial landlord in lease dispute against tenant.
  • Secured $200,000 judgment, including client’s attorney’s fees, for large commercial landlord in lease dispute against national franchise tenant.
  • Achieved $630,000 jury trial verdict, including client’s attorney’s fees and pre-judgment interest, for regional construction company. Case involved complex indemnification and bond issues related to federal construction projects.
  • Defense of oil company in lawsuit brought by minority shareholder alleging fraud and breaches of fiduciary duty by the company’s directors, officers, and majority shareholder, leading to favorable settlement.
  • Favorable settlement of breach of contract claim brought in federal court against Fortune 500 company by software maintenance provider that alleged the company had failed to properly terminate the parties’ contract and thus owed maintenance fees at the provider’s “full price,” which was far in excess of any fees the company had ever agreed to pay.
  • Obtained summary judgment totaling $500,000 for executor in federal lawsuit filed against beneficiary who refused to pay her share of the estate tax attributable to the estate assets she received.
  • Secured $1.6 million judgment for large commercial landlord in lease dispute against regional franchise tenant.
  • Obtained summary judgment in favor of a property owner in a quiet title action against ten adverse claimants involving a 53-acre tract of land.
  • Obtained arbitration award in favor of university on all claims brought by expelled student who claimed to be aggrieved by the school’s internal review and appeal proceedings.
  • Prevailed in dispute involving $4 million appraisal award and bad faith claim in the Southern District of Georgia for insurer. Case involved claim of insurance fraud and significant sanction award against policyholder.
  • Secured judgment for national mortgage provider against Fortune 500 company. Judgment included court order of payment of client’s legal fees by losing party.
  • Succeeded in motion to dismiss based upon lack of personal jurisdiction in multimillion-dollar failed real estate development deal. After win, client was not timely sued in proper jurisdiction and thus avoided all liability in matter. Client’s partners (allegedly) paid in excess of $1 million in fees and settlement.

Recognition

Georgia Super Lawyers Rising Star: Business Litigation, 2020

Super Lawyers is a rating service of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high-degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. The selection process is multi-phased and includes independent research, peer nominations and peer evaluations.

GenerationNEXT: Savannah’s Rising Stars of Business, 2018

In their annual GenerationNEXT: Savannah’s Rising Stars of Business competition, Savannah Magazine and Business in Savannah recognize local business and community leaders under the age of 40. The winners are nominated and selected based upon their business accomplishments and humanitarian efforts.

Martindale-Hubbell: AV Rated

The Martindale-Hubbell® PEER REVIEW RATINGS™ are an objective indicator of a lawyer’s high ethical standards and professional ability, generated from evaluations of lawyers by other members of the bar and the judiciary in the United States and Canada.

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Publications & Presentations

Publications

Frequent Questions from Commercial Landlords about COVID-19

In this article for Savannah CEO, Allan Galis and Taylor Dove provide answers to some of the most common questions they’ve been receiving from their clients regarding landlords’ legal rights during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Hands-Free Georgia Act

In his article for Business in Savannah, attorney Allan Galis discusses the new Hands-Free Georgia Act regarding cell phone use and how it affects commercial drivers in the logistics industry.

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Protecting Your Client’s Wrongful Death Settlement Proceeds from Medicare

In this article for the American Bar Association publication The Brief, attorney Allan Galis provides practical tips on how to protect a wrongful death settlement of inheritors from Medicare liens.

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Business Contracts: Understanding the Ties That Bind

By Allan C. Galis, published on October 19, 2011, in Business in Savannah.

In all industries, from hospitality and manufacturing to exports and retail, contracts define the terms of agreements and, if clearly drafted, minimize potential future disputes.

A contract is typically a written or oral agreement in which the important terms are sufficiently definite to be legally binding and enforceable in a court of law. An effective contract requires a written agreement which includes an unambiguous offer (which should specify terms, conditions, and deadlines) and a valid acceptance, the manner of which may be determined by the terms of the agreement itself or by the conduct or course of dealing of the parties. Performance terms, conditions, and deadlines can be negotiated by either party before final acceptance.

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UNESCO Documents and Procedure: The Need to Account for Political Conflict When Designating World Heritage Sites

By Allan C. Galis, published on March 1, 2009, in Georgia Journal of International and Comparative Law.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO) World Heritage Convention has been called “the most successful global instrument for the protection of cultural and natural heritage,” 1 while also being criticized as “an instrument of ‘foreign domination.’ ” 2 Adopted by the United Nations in 1972, the World Heritage Convention (the Convention) is intended to identify, protect, and preserve cultural and natural heritage sites of “outstanding universal value” around the world. 3 Currently, 890 sites are protected under the Convention, 4 but not all of these listings were accepted without controversy. 5 The most recent controversial listing involves a border dispute between Thailand and Cambodia. The controversy surrounds the Temple of Preah Vihear and its inclusion on the World Heritage List (the List) as a Cambodian site. 6

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Presentations

Fit Test Your Business

How fit is your business? This PowerPoint provides overview information on four important aspects of your business’s legal “fitness”: business structure, employment, agreements and contracts, and business succession.

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News

Thirteen HunterMaclean Attorneys Recognized as 2020 Super Lawyers and Rising Stars

HunterMaclean was recently honored with the selection of ten attorneys as 2020 Georgia Super Lawyers and three attorneys as 2020 Rising Stars.

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SMN: Leadership Savannah graduates 47

HunterMaclean attorney Allan Galis has graduated from Leadership Savannah as a member of the 2015-2016 class.

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YLD Golf Tournament Raises $8,000 for Savannah Guardian Ad Litem Program

Litigator Heather Hammonds Lundy organized HunterMaclean’s participation in the YLD charity golf tournament, which raised $8,000 for the Savannah Guardian Ad Litem program.

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Attorney Allan C. Galis Joins Specialty Litigation Group at HunterMaclean

HunterMaclean, a leading law firm in Savannah, Ga., is pleased to announce that Allan C. Galis recently joined the firm as an associate in the Specialty Litigation Group.

Before joining HunterMaclean, Galis served as an associate at a Brunswick law firm where he practiced corporate, trust and estate law. His work included corporate planning, formation, structuring, governance, transactions and counseling, as well as tax planning, probate and trust administration. Galis is also a registered mediator with the Georgia Office of Dispute Resolution.

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Videos & Podcasts

Videos

Video: HunterMaclean and Junior Achievement: Educating Future Leaders

HunterMaclean partners with Junior Achievement of Savannah to expose K-12 students to business professionals and law careers, as well as educate them for the 21st century workplace. In this award-winning video, HunterMaclean attorneys teach in local classrooms, speak at Career Day, and bring students to the Firm on Job Shadow Day.

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