Iraq War Veteran Jason Gerber Named Partner At Marquis Aurbach Coffing
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- Created on Friday, 14 October 2011 16:37
Las Vegas, NV. – Lawyers like to position themselves as “strategists” and as being “fighters for their clients.” These concepts are something Iraq War Veteran Jason Gerber knows all about. While serving as an Army Trial Defense Counsel, one of his high profile cases involved a serviceman who executed an Iraqi citizen at close range during a door to door search in the Baghdad slum of Sadr City.
“He was told by his squad leader before they came to Iraq that they would not be taking any prisoners. They are going to kill the oldest male in the home even if there were no threat," said Attorney Jason Gerber, director (partner) at Marquis Aurbach Coffing. "He was a good soldier that unfortunately followed illegal orders.”
The case went to trial with the then Captain Gerber helping defend the soldier on murder charges. Eventually, the soldier was convicted of manslaughter only and was sentenced to four years in prison. With time served and credit for good behavior, he served only two years, came home, finished college and got his life back.
Like a lot of Veterans, Gerber’s commitment to military service began on September 11th during his final year of law school. His brother is a West Point graduate, and the choice seemed obvious. Gerber wrapped up his last year of law school and joined the Army as an officer in the US Army JAG Corps. After spending about a year representing soldiers and their family members at Ft. Irwin in California, Gerber volunteered to deploy to Iraq for a year in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
In addition to the young soldier charged in the Sadr City murder case, Gerber successfully defended a reservist with more than 20 years of service who was accused of wrongfully firing over a fence line during what was perceived as the beginning of an attack by Muslim Cleric Muqtada Al-Sadr’s Mehdi Army. Iraqi soldiers and officers backed up the serviceman’s account and the general court martial charges were dismissed.
By January of 2006, Gerber’s military commitment came to an end while he and his new wife Tammy were establishing a life together in Las Vegas. Gerber interviewed with one of the largest most prestigious law firms in Nevada, Marquis & Aurbach which has since evolved into Marquis Aurbach Coffing (MAC Law). In March of 2006, he landed the job as an associate handling construction and business litigation and defending the rights of business owners against a long list of threats.
It is official, Gerber’s hard work and commitment paid off, and he was named director, a partner, in the firm. Gerber now serves on the firm’s hiring and marketing commitees and is in the process of revamping the MAC Law web presence and online outreach. His next big challenge?
“Tammy and I recently began fostering to adopt three wonderful children ages 10, 11 and 14.” said Gerber. "Back in 2009, we made the decision this was the path we were going down together. We spent more than a year getting our foster care licenses and the kids finally came to visit with us during Thanksgiving. We were able to have them move in for good just in time for Christmas of last year. For Tammy and I ,the first priority has always been about building a stable, productive life. I want that for us, I want that for our children.”