Associate

Kathryn Deal is an associate in the firm’s Commercial Litigation Practice Group.  She has a diverse litigation practice focusing on complex commercial litigation and appeals.

Complex Commercial Litigation.  Kathryn’s litigation experience extends to a variety of complex commercial matters, including products liability suits, trademark infringement and unfair competition claims, contract disputes, consumer class actions, employment and discrimination cases, and corporate governance matters.  In the course of her practice, Kathryn has handled many aspects of civil litigation, ranging from pre-litigation counseling, to discovery and dispositive motion practice, to trial advocacy and post-trial proceedings.

Appellate Litigation.  Kathryn also has appellate experience on a wide range of matters.  She has briefed appeals pending in the Superior Court of Pennsylvania, the Superior Court of New Jersey, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, and the United States Supreme Court.

Representative Litigation Matters.  Kathryn, working with other lawyers at the firm, has:

• Second-chaired a federal jury trial in which Drinker Biddle obtained a defense verdict on behalf of a national association of colleges and universities on a claim of disability discrimination brought by a former aspiring student-athlete.
  
  
• Second-chaired a jury trial in which Drinker Biddle obtained a defense verdict on behalf of a national medical device manufacturer in a products liability action.
  
  
• Represented a telecommunications defendant in a national consumer class action in which Drinker Biddle leveraged a dismissal of the case prior to class certification.
  
  
• Represented a clothing and apparel manufacturer in a preliminary injunction hearing and bench trial in which Drinker Biddle obtained both preliminary and permanent injunctions against the defendants for trademark infringement and unfair competition under the Lanham Act.
  
  
• Drafted portions of appellate briefs in a federal appeal in which Drinker Biddle obtained an affirmance of a permanent injunction awarded to its client and a remand for reconsideration of whether attorneys’ fees should also be awarded to that client, pursuant to the exceptional case provision of the Lanham Act.

In General.  Kathryn received her bachelor’s degree in English, magna cum laude, from Cornell University.  She earned her J.D., cum laude, from Georgetown University Law Center, where she was managing editor of the Georgetown Journal of International Law and a teaching fellow in the Legal Research & Writing Department.  From 2005-2006, Kathryn served as a law clerk to the Hon. Robert B. Kugler, United States District Judge for the District of New Jersey.