David Hilliard

As a trail lawyer, David C. Hilliard has built a career representing national brands in "bet-the-company" litigation. His clients come to him for a lawyer who can orchestrate a month-log trial, withstand three days of intense cross-examination, or bring stubborn parties to a mediated settlement.

A senior partner (and former Managing Partner) of the firm, David handles IP matters of every description, from anti-counterfeiting and infringement to unfair competition and false advertising. He's tried major copyright, trademark and unfair competition cases and appeals throughout the United States. He protects iconic brands like Ford, Pepsi, BASF, Encyclopedia Britannica, and the American Medical Association.

In Addition to representing clients in litigation, he's a frequent mediator, arbitrator and expert witness.

David's interests aren't limited to law practice. He is a Trustee of the Art Institute of Chicago and past president of the Chicago Bar Association, The Lawyers Fund of Illinois, and Chair of the Visiting Committee of the University of Chicago Law School. He was a founding member of the Illinois Commission on the Rights of Women, and was honored by the Chicago Council of Lawyers for leadership in judicial reform.

It says a lot about his practice that he is regularly selected as counsel by corporations and lawyers whose first experiences with him were as adversaries. "Clients like focus," he explains, "So I'm also frequently brought into litigation as replacement counsel to set things right."

Clients reach out to him because of his extensive experience as a trial lawyer. "Trial experience is the key to protecting your business assets when they are on the line," David explains. David has won important cases for Sun Life of Canada, which established the doctrine of "inevitable confusion" and pioneered the first "mystery shopper" survey as an innovative means of assuring survey trustworthiness.

Representing Form Motor Company, he shut down 50 counterfeiters of Ford parts and established the legal bases for protection in anti-counterfeiting cases. For PepsiCo, he won more than fifty gray-market goods cases, and helped define the standards for protection against illegal imports.

David is listed in the BEST LAWYERS IN AMERICA, and is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers.

He has written and co-authored dozens of publications, including a treatise, TRADEMARKS AND UNFAIR COMPETITION (3rd ed.2007), which has been cited and quoted by federal courts including the United States Supreme Court (Moseley v. Victoria's Secret, 2003) and has been used since 2001 to train federal judges in intellectual property law.

He also teaches at both Northwestern University and the University of Chicago law schools, and his law school text, TRADEMARKS AND UNFAIR COMPETITION (6th edition, 2005), is used in over thirty-five law school courses nationally.

As a CPR/INTA-certified mediator and arbitrator, David handles many high-profile cases. "An expert decision-maker lets the parties focus on the nuances of their particular dispute, and get a result comparable to an appellate decision that might take years, and cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to reach." One of his most challenging mediation was in the $750 million Terra Museum conflict with the State of Illinois. It generated coverage in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and elsewhere, and is described in The Art of Mediation: The Terra Museum War. http://www.somelinkhere

David often serves as an expert witness in major litigation for clients like General Motors, The Hoover Company and Blue Shield of California. He was an expert for the Internal Revenue Service in a case involving Nestlé’s evaluation of the assets of the Carnation Company, which it had acquired. His analysis "focused on Carnation's records which tracked the strengths and weaknesses of the many transferred brands and won a very favorable settlement for the Internal Revenue Service." David explains.

He was the founding Chair of the Young Lawyers Section of the Chicago Bar Association (see "The Law and Other Things").http://www.somelinkhere In his honor, the Association established the David C. Hilliard Award, which is given annually to the outstanding Section Committee Chair. What has he learned from his years of practice and community service? "Patience," he says

Industry Expertise

• Automotive
• Food & Beverage
• Household & Personal Products
• Insurance
• Health Care Equipment & Services
• Pharmaceutical & Biotechnology
• Technology Hardware & Equipment

Representative Matters

Professional Activities

• Northwestern University annual Symposium on Intellectual Property Law and the Corporate Client, Chairman 1985-2005.
• Northwestern University School of Law, adjunct professor of Intellectual Property Law.
• University of Chicago School of Law, lecturer on "Advanced Trademarks and Unfair Competition" and "Intellectual Property Law and the Regulation of Information".
• Chicago Bar Association: Former President.
• Lawyers Trust Fund of Illinois: Former President.
• Legal Club of Chicago: Former President.
• Visiting Committee of the University of Chicago Law School: Former Chairman.
• Chicago Bar Record: Former Editor-in-Chief.
• Young Lawyers Section of the Chicago Bar Association: Founding Chairman.
• International Trademark Association: Former Director.
• ABA Trademarks Division: Former Chairman.
• ABA Intellectual Property Law Section: Former Member of Council.
• US Navy: Former Judge Advocate under Admiral John S. McCain.
• Art Institute of Chicago: Trustee; Former Vice-Chairman; Former Chairman of the Board of the School; Former President, Auxiliary Board; Former Chairman, Sustaining Fellows; Former Chairman, Exhibitions Committee; Founding Chairman, Department of Architecture.
• Newberry Library: Trustee and Vice-Chairman.
• Wayfarers Club: Former President.

Recent Publications

• "Intellectual Property Implications of the Human Genome Project," Discussant, Washington University School of Law and School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, 2002.
• "Investigations in Intellectual Property Litigation," IPSA International, Chicago, IL, 2004.
• "Internet Law", featured in ILLINOIS SUPER LAWYERS, 2007.