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Jacqueline Criswell chairs the firm’s Intellectual Property group and has been a commercial litigator for more than 28 years. She practices in all aspects of intellectual property law, including trademarks, trade dress, misappropriation of trade secrets, copyrights, e-commerce, and false advertising matters. Jackie acted as lead trial counsel in cases involving novel issues, including the interplay of permissible parody and the First Amendment, functionality of product designs, copyright protection for useful articles and Digital Millennium Copyright Act damages. She also litigates claims for misappropriation of trade secrets against former employees and competitors, as well as piracy and economic espionage. She is a frequent lecturer on these issues and also provides counseling on software licensing, web hosting and technology transfer agreements. Jackie is the editor of the firm’s Internet and Intellectual Property Law Update, a quarterly newsletter.

Jackie has represented large corporate debtors in Chapter 7 and Chapter 11 proceedings. Her bankruptcy practice currently focuses on counseling creditors when their customers file bankruptcy, including obtaining critical vendor status, as well as defending preference and fraudulent conveyance actions. Her clients include manufacturing and service companies, as well as insurers.

Jackie has achieved an AV® Preeminent rating from Martindale-Hubbell, which is a testament to the fact that a lawyer’s peers rank her at the highest level of professional excellence. In 2019, Jackie was selected her ninth time for the Illinois Super Lawyers®. She has been selected ten times as an Illinois Leading Lawyer, most recently in 2022. Jackie is admitted to practice in a number of federal courts throughout the country.

Prior to joining the firm in 1984, Jackie represented large corporate debtors in bankruptcy proceedings for a premier bankruptcy boutique firm in Chicago.