Craig E. Bertschi
PARTNER
Mr. Bertschi began his legal career in 1990 as an associate with the law firm of Kilpatrick & Cody in Atlanta. He was elected to the Partnership in January of 1998 and remained with that firm, which is now known as Kilpatrick, Townsend & Stockton, LLP until March of 2015.
For the last 32 years, Mr. Bertschi focused his practice on litigating complex business disputes and defending consumer class action lawsuits under the Fair Credit Reporting Act and other consumer protection statutes. Mr. Bertschi has represented Fortune 500 companies in the telecommunications, financial services and aerospace industries and has served as lead counsel in lawsuits nationwide, including cases in the Second, Fourth, Fifth, Ninth and Eleventh Circuits. He also has extensive experience litigating in the state courts of Georgia, before the American Arbitration Association and in private arbitrations.
Mr. Bertschi has over 20 years of experience handling class action and single plaintiff cases under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (the “FCRA”). His FCRA clients have included a large national credit reporting agency, numerous consumer reporting agencies providing pre-employment background screening services and various businesses accused of having violated the FCRA. In addition, Mr. Bertschi has served on the Education Committee of the National Association of Professional Background Screeners (“NAPBS”) and was the primary developer of NAPBS’ FCRA Basic and Advanced FCRA Certification Programs.
Mr. Bertschi was recognized by The Best Lawyers in America® in 2014-2023 for Banking & Finance Litigation. From 2019-2023, he has been recognized as a Georgia Super Lawyer®, and he is AV® rated by Martindale-Hubbell.*
In March 2015, Mr. Bertschi formed a partnership with another Kilpatrick & Cody alum, Mara McRae. As a founding partner of McRae Bertschi & Cole LLC, Mr. Bertschi continues to provide the highest quality representation to clients in commercial and business disputes. In addition, Mr. Bertschi represents consumers in class action and single plaintiff litigation under the Fair Credit Reporting Act.
Mr. Bertschi is an Atlanta native, having grown up in Gwinnett County. He was the Georgia State Champion in academic debate in 1983. He attended Emory University as the Alben W. Barkley Merit Scholar and was twice named Emory’s Outstanding Debater. Mr. Bertschi was elected to membership in Phi Beta Kappa in 1986 and graduated from Emory University magna cum laude in 1987. He attended the University of Georgia School of Law as a Robert W. Woodruff Scholar and served on the Editorial Board of the Georgia Law Review. Mr. Bertschi graduated from the University of Georgia School of Law magna cum laude in 1990 and is a member of the Order of the Coif.
*CV, BV, and AV are registered certification marks of Reed Elsevier Properties Inc., used in accordance with the Martindale-Hubbell certification procedure's standards and policies.