At Garner & Gillen, LLC, we believe great legal counsel should be both sophisticated and personal. Founders Amy Gillen and Emily Garner bring decades of litigation and transactional experience across commercial, real estate, arbitration, and regulatory matters, delivering high-level representation with the responsiveness and individual attention of a boutique firm. We work side-by-side with our clients, offering clear guidance, steady advocacy, and practical solutions that help them protect what matters most and move forward with confidence.
Amy Bio
Amy brings 30 years of commercial litigation and contracts experience to Garner & Gillen, LLC, a perfect blend of big-city sophistication with small-town practicality. After earning her J.D. from St. John’s University School of Law in 1996, Amy began her legal career practicing with boutique and mid-sized law firms in Manhattan and Westchester County, New York. There, she represented clients in complex commercial litigation, real estate and judgment enforcement matters, appearing frequently in both state and federal courts across the New York metropolitan area.
Amy later served for more than a decade as outside counsel to a leading Manhattan public relations firm, gaining extensive transactional experience drafting and negotiating contracts for the firm’s clients including Ritz-Carlton, Colonial Williamsburg, the Cayman Islands, Target, Lululemon Athletica, Schwinn Bicycles, several Olympic athletes, and luxury boutique hotels and restaurants throughout the United States.
At Garner and Gillen, Amy represents a broad range of corporate clients, including real estate developers, import–export companies, technology firms, and financial service providers —in complex commercial disputes as well as domestic and international arbitration before the world’s leading forums. Her practice also encompasses commercial leasing, mortgage foreclosures, mergers and acquisitions, domestic securities law, and SEC and OTC Markets compliance, including the preparation of Rule 144 legal opinions.
When Amy met Emily, she knew she had found a colleague whose enthusiasm for the law, collaborative spirit, and dedication to clients matched her own—a partnership that just felt right from the start.
Beyond the office, Amy enjoys exploring new restaurants, traveling with her family and relaxing with her favorite hobby—needlepoint, where her attention to detail and creativity come together in every stitch.
Emily Bio
Emily Garner represents individuals and businesses in complex disputes and high-stakes legal matters, helping clients navigate challenges with clarity and confidence. Her practice blends high-level strategy with practical execution, handling sophisticated commercial litigation, mergers and acquisitions, and domestic and international arbitration across multiple jurisdictions.
Throughout her career, Emily has led high-stakes matters before leading arbitral institutions including the Singapore International Arbitration Centre, the London Court of International Arbitration, the Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce, and the Swiss Arbitration Centre. In addition to complex corporate and cross-border disputes, she regularly advises clients on real estate and foreclosure matters, asset protection, and operations in highly regulated industries, including cannabis — giving her a hands-on understanding of both enterprise-level risk and day-to-day business realities.
At Garner & Gillen, LLC, Emily partners closely with clients as both advocate and advisor, helping them make smart decisions before issues escalate and stepping in decisively when disputes arise. Clients value her precision, responsiveness, and ability to turn complicated problems into straightforward paths forward.
From their first collaboration, Emily and Amy recognized a shared philosophy: sophisticated legal work doesn’t have to feel impersonal. Together, they built a firm that delivers big-market experience with direct access, practical counsel, and genuine partnership.
Emily earned her B.A. in Psychology from St. Martin’s University and her J.D. from Concordia University School of Law, where she received a CALI Award for excellence in Alternative Dispute Resolution. Outside the office, she enjoys exploring the coastline with her husband and their pups.