Peter Santos

Peter Santos is an experienced business litigator who co-chairs the firm’s Business and Consumer Litigation Practice Group.  His focus has been on representing companies with several hundred to tens of thousands of employees in several business-related practice areas during his twenty year career.  After thirteen years in private practice in Pittsburgh, Mr. Santos relocated to Charlotte in 2001.  A significant portion of Mr. Santos’ work involves matters outside of the State of North Carolina. 

Mr. Santos currently manages the nationwide toxic tort litigation defense of a multi-national company.  In this capacity he is responsible for supervising dozens of lawyers handling hundreds of claims across more than twenty-five states.  Some of these cases are pending in what have been characterized as the most difficult jurisdictions in the country. Many of these claims are brought by experienced law firms.  Mr. Santos supervises the team of lawyers handling the day to day activities necessary to the successful representation of a defendant in this litigation.  A significant portion of his work is in plotting strategy and managing the production of documents, witnesses and discovery responses.  His team also serves as local counsel for several companies in toxic tort litigation pending in North and South Carolina. 

In addition, Mr. Santos advises several longstanding clients on matters related to commercial transactions and bankruptcy matters and he has litigated in these areas throughout his career.  Frequently, his practice involves commercial sales and financing arrangements, secured transactions, the negotiation of sales and commercial agreements, and the resolution of disputes in these areas. Mr. Santos has lectured on issues related to commercial law and was an early instructor on using the Internet in the practice of law for the Pennsylvania Bar Institute.

Prior to joining Nexsen Pruet, LLC, Mr. Santos opened and managed the Charlotte, NC office of a Pennsylvania-based firm of 130 lawyers. 

Mr. Santos received his undergraduate degree in political science from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, PA and his J.D. from the Duquesne University School of Law, where he served on the Law Review, the Appellate Moot Court Team and where he received the Order of the Barristers.  He is a member of the International Association of Defense Counsel and various bar and other professional associations.   

• Obtained a Preliminary Injunction prohibiting competitor from hacking into his client's computer system in a "bet the company" case.
• Successfully managed the reduction of over twenty thousand toxic tort claims to less than four hundred.
• Successfully defended a nearly $2 million preference action in one of the largest bankruptcy cases ever filed. This included vacating a default judgment that had been entered prior to Mr. Santos’ retention.
• Represented a savings and loan institution in series of lender liability claims that resulted in the dismissal of all claims. The dismissal was affirmed by the Pennsylvania Superior Court.
• Negotiated the resolution at various stages both before and after trial of more than fifty commercial disputes ranging in size from several hundred thousand dollars to many millions of dollars.
• Handled the resolution of disputes filed before various arbitration tribunals including the AAA and the ICC
• Served as lead bankruptcy counsel for a metropolitan county with a population in excess of one million.
• Admitted in pro hac vice in more than twenty different jurisdictions.
• Opened and Managed the Charlotte office of a 130 lawyer firm.