Gayle is Co-Head of Freshfields’ US Litigation, Arbitration, and Global Investigations practice. Gayle is a nationally recognized litigator with a practice that focuses on a full spectrum of commercial disputes, particularly those involving complex financial transactions, fraud claims, trade secrets, non-compete undertakings and major contracts. She also is particularly adept at defending against class actions and has secured victories in class actions nationwide, including California, Florida, and Texas. Her clients include some of the most well-known public and private technology and life sciences companies, financial institutions, private equity firms, and hedge funds.
Gayle represents both plaintiffs and defendants in high stakes litigation. Over the past decade, she has both recovered in excess of $1 billion for her clients, as well as won defense verdicts and achieved settlements vindicating her clients’ business decisions. It is, therefore, not surprising that Gayle’s litigation prowess is hailed by both her clients and peers alike. In October 2021, The Hedge Fund Journal, in association with EY, included Gayle in its venerated report of the “50 Leading Women in Hedge Funds.” In addition to her ranking as a New York “Litigation Star” and one of the “Top 250 Women in Litigation” nationally by Benchmark Litigation since 2015, which describes her as “a community and client favorite” who possesses the unique combination of “street smarts and an uncanny business sense”, she is also recognized by Chambers USA as a leading lawyer in “Band 1” for Commercial Litigation in New York, ranking her as one of the top 20 litigators in one of the most competitive categories in the publication. Client commentary in Chambers USA includes that Gayle is “tenacious,” “creative,” “fast,” “flexible,” and “the most strategic, most prepared, hardest hitting and smartest litigator.” She also has been named among the “500 Best Lawyers in the United States” by Lawdragon since 2013. She was most recently a Partner and the Co-Head of the litigation department at Schulte Roth & Zabel.
She also is recognized as a thought leader on litigation trends, regularly publishing articles and being quoted in industry publications on litigation relating to wide-ranging and cutting-edge investment products and asset classes such as SPACs, PIPEs, CMBS, CLOs, real estate and cryptocurrency.
Updated Oct 2025
