Lee B. Rauch

Email: Click here to contact

Lee Rauch has practiced civil litigation since 1993. He represents businesses and individuals in a wide variety of matters in federal and state courts in Maryland and the District of Columbia. His practice has a focus on complex commercial matters and business torts. He is experienced in the automotive, real estate, financial services, and health care industries, among others. Before Freeman Rauch, LLC, Mr. Rauch practiced at a prominent Maryland firm where he held positions that included Deputy Chair of the firm’s litigation department and Chair of the Associate Development Committee.

Mr. Rauch is an advocate who puts a premium on achieving a favorable result for clients in an efficient manner. He has represented clients in mediations, trials, arbitrations, and appeals involving:

• Complex commercial litigation including contracts, fraud and other business torts, and shareholder/partnership disputes;
• Insurance defense and coverage;
• Employment discrimination claims;
• Real estate litigation including landlord tenant and homeowners association matters; and
• Defense of personal injury, products liability, and medical malpractice claims.

Automotive Industry

Mr. Rauch has represented clients in the automotive industry for over twenty years. His practice focuses on the defense of automobile dealerships, ranging from national dealership groups to locally owned stores in the areas of: TILA, ECOA, and other financing statutes; misrepresentation; consumer protection laws; negligence; product liability; breach of warranty; premises liability; breach of contract; and employment law claims. Mr. Rauch also represents providers of automotive finance and insurance products. He has also represented auto manufacturers in lemon law and warranty claims as well as rental car companies in personal injury suits.

Representative Matters

• Defended an auto dealer in a customer suit claiming that the dealer wrongfully failed to disclose that it would receive part of the financing charges and won summary judgment;
• Defended a national home improvement franchisor in a suit brought by customers of a defunct franchisee;
• Represented a homeowners association in claims brought by a homeowner and won a motion to dismiss;
• Defended a credit union on claims brought by a consumer related to mortgage refinancing;
• Defended a corporation on a consumer’s claim of identity theft and won summary judgment;
• Represented a commercial sub-lessor and won summary judgment on claims brought by the landlord;
• Defended a corporation on a claim of breach of a land sale contract and won summary judgment;
• Defended a closely-held company in a shareholder derivative suit and won a motion to dismiss; and
• Negotiated a successful settlement for a home improvement franchisor in a claim brought by a terminated franchisee.

Mr. Rauch has briefed and argued before Maryland’s Court of Appeals and Court of Special Appeals. Among the reported cases in which he has represented clients are:

• Lipitz v. Hurwitz, 435 Md. 273 (2013) (holding that a buyer of real property was entitled to the protections of the Maryland Homeowner’s Association Act even if he owned other property in the same development);
• Case Handyman and Remodeling Services, LLC v. Schuele, 183 Md. 44 (2008), vacated on other grounds by 412 Md. 555 (2010) (holding that non-party to contract containing arbitration clause could compel arbitration when it was being sued in connection with the contract);
• Danielwicz v. Arnold, 137 Md. App. 601 (2001) (affirming trial court dismissal of suit involving shareholder derivative claims and allegations of a director’s breach of fiduciary duty); and
• Osborn v. Bunge, 338 Md. 396 (1995) (granting motion to dismiss appeal for lack of final judgment).

Leadership

Mr. Rauch served as president of the Maryland Chapter of the Federal Bar Association during the 2017-2018 bar year. He also has been active in the American Bar Association’s Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section, having chaired its Trial Techniques Committee and Task Force on Outreach to Local and State Bars, among several other positions.

Mr. Rauch has volunteered as a team leader and faculty member for the “Deposition Practice and Procedures” program held by the Maryland Institute for Continuing Professional Education of Lawyers, and later the MSBA, from 2000 to the present.

Mr. Rauch has served on the Johns Hopkins Hospital Kimmel Center Patient and Family Caregiver Council since 2013.

Admission Details

• Admitted in 1993, Maryland
• 2001, District of Columbia
• U.S. District Court, District of Maryland
• Virginia

Education

• Duke University (J.D., 1993) Latty Scholar;
• Johns Hopkins University (B.A. 1990) with honors.

Areas of Law

• Civil litigation
• Complex business and commercial litigation
• Insurance defense and coverage
• Employment discrimination
• Medical malpractice