McCormack, Thomas A.

Kathryn Zalewski is a counsel in the Litigation/Controversy Department, and a member of the Intellectual Property Litigation Practice Group. She focuses her practice on patent litigation and has diverse experience in trademark, trade secrets, copyright and general commercial litigation. Ms. Zalewski has extensive experience representing both in federal court and in the International Trade Commission.

Practice

Ms. Zalewski has successfully litigated patent and other intellectual property and other commercial cases in federal and state courts. She has handled cases involving a variety of technologies including computer hardware and software, digital camera technology, wireless LANs and telecommunications. Prior to joining WilmerHale in 2009, she was a partner at Schiff Hardin LLP in Chicago, where she represented clients in patent, trademark, trade secret and general commercial litigation matters. She has also counseled clients in a variety of intellectual property and non-IP matters. Ms. Zalewski’s practice has spanned several industries, including manufacturing, life sciences and financial services, and involved a variety of products, including securities trading software, pharmaceuticals, dietary supplements, shipping crates, cooking products and heart catheters, among others. She has litigated cases in several US District Courts and Illinois state courts.

In the pro bono arena, Ms. Zalewski represented a group of nineteen former US diplomats and drafted amicus briefs on their behalf supporting Guantanamo Bay detainees. The 2004 consolidated case, Rasul v. Bush and Al Odah v. U.S., was the first detention case to reach the US Supreme Court. She has also represented clients seeking asylum.

Ms. Zalewski is admitted to practice in the states of California, Illinois and Michigan, and before the US Courts of Appeals for the Federal and Sixth Circuits and the US District Court for the Northern and Central Districts of Illinois and the Eastern and Western Districts of Michigan.

Prior to pursuing a legal career, Ms. Zalewski gained significant technology experience at the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, where she was a computer applications analyst from 1987 to 1994.

Professional Activities

Ms. Zalewski is a member of the American Bar Association’s Intellectual Property Law Section and the Federal Circuit Bar Association.

Ms. Zalewski was an adjunct professor of Advanced Legal Writing (Intellectual Property) at Chicago-Kent College of Law in the spring semesters of 2007 and 2008.

Publications

• "Summary Judgment Is Often the Best Option," National Law Journal, October 16, 2000.