About Gary
Gary Berdeen built his legal foundation in two different regions of the country. He earned a B.S. in psychology from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in 1998. He then took a practical turn toward law, receiving his J.D. from Syracuse University College of Law in 2001.
He started his career in the early 2000s at Hunton & Williams, where he worked immediately after law school. By 2003 he had moved on to Morison Holden and later to Trenk Dipasquale, gaining experience in complex litigation and creditor-debtor matters. Those early years exposed him to courtroom work and the practical demands of commercial disputes.
Over the next decade his path threaded through several regional firms. In 2015 he joined Smith Strong, and a year later he was at Dunlap Bennett & Ludwig. In 2017 he opened Berdeen Law Office, a move that signaled a desire to shape the client experience and to handle matters directly. More recently he has been associated with Stewart Smith Law, where he continues his practice.
His practice spans both federal and state forums. He is admitted in Virginia and appears in multiple federal courts, including the U.S. District Courts for the Eastern and Western Districts of Virginia and the Southern District of Indiana. He is also admitted to practice before the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Virginia and to several federal appellate courts, including the 4th, 7th and 9th Circuits. That range reflects work on litigation matters that travel between trial courts, bankruptcy dockets and appellate panels.
Colleagues describe him as pragmatic in court and straightforward at the negotiating table. He has handled contested matters where creditors, debtors and trustees have intersected. The record shows work on commercial disputes, bankruptcy-related litigation and district-court matters that required careful procedural handling. He has experience guiding clients through hearings, motion practice and appeals.
Outside the courtroom he has built a practice that balances case work with the administrative demands of running a small office. He has moved between larger firms and smaller practices, which has given him a perspective on how different firms operate and how clients experience representation.
As of 2026 he practices with Stewart Smith Law and maintains admissions across several federal and appellate courts. His current practice focuses on litigation and bankruptcy-related matters.
