Katherine E.Perrelli

Partner

Clients rely on Kate to help them navigate complex commercial disputes, protect their trade secrets and confidential and proprietary information, and swoop in to litigate these issues with her team on a moment’s notice.


More About Kate

Clients turn to Kate when they are most concerned about losing their confidential proprietary information and trade secrets or when other companies have hit them with a shot across the bow alleging violations of common and statutory laws for hiring a new employee or group of employees. Kate is a nationally recognized authority in trade secret and unfair competition law, and companies rely on her experience to counsel them in protecting their business assets both before and after a dispute arises. Not only is she a problem-solver, she is also a trusted advisor and collaborative partner, learning her clients' business so that she can help formulate and mold their policies and practices for protecting trade secrets and confidential information, and recommend and employ winning strategies in litigation involving these issues.

Kate is her clients’ first call when they face challenges with unfair competition, trade secret misappropriation, and other intellectual property theft, restrictive covenant litigation, complex commercial disputes, wrongful termination, and internal workplace misconduct and compliance complaints. Her services also include preparation of individual and multistate employer non-compete, nonsolicit, nondisclosure, and other restrictive covenant agreements; advice regarding onboarding of employees or groups of employees from a competitor, or departing employees joining a competitor; and preparation and implementation of trade secret protection programs, including trade secret audits.

In addition to representing her clients across the country on such matters in federal and state courts, arbitrations, and mediations, Kate is frequently retained to conduct complex and sensitive internal investigations concerning executives, workplace misconduct issues, and other internal complaints. She works with clients to address the situation through impartial fact finding while providing strategic guidance on minimizing harm and business impact. Based on her findings and the interests of the client, Kate offers strategic guidance on necessary steps to address the situation and protect the company going forward through proactive steps such as training, discipline, and necessary updates to policies and procedures.

Kate is currently a member of the firm's executive committee, the co-chair of the firm’s national Trade Secrets, Computer Fraud & Non-Competes group, and the chair of the ABA Committee on Trade Secrets and Interference with Contracts. Kate is the immediate past national chair of Seyfarth’ s Litigation department, has led a variety of litigation and business counseling practice areas, and has collaborated with other firm nonlitigation departments on client and industry initiatives. These various Seyfarth and industry leadership roles enhance her client service by giving her up-to-the-minute access to emerging legal trends, best practices, and benchmarking information, as well as a deep knowledge of firm and industry talent that can be tapped for certain client needs.

Kate has also studied and employed the most innovative techniques in the legal industry, including value-based pricing, process improvement, and project management and service delivery that affect the business side of many in-house legal departments.

Kate also has considerable experience in devising and managing alternative, value-based fee structures. She is a certified Six Sigma Green Belt and applies Lean Six Sigma and SeyfarthLean principles to her practice, counseling clients on process improvements, data analytics, and project management.

  • JD, Western New England University School of Law

    Western New England Law Review

  • BA, Skidmore College
  • Connecticut
  • Massachusetts
  • New York
  • US Court of Appeals, First Circuit
  • US Court of Appeals, Second Circuit
  • US Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit
  • US District Court, District of Connecticut
  • US District Court, District of Massachusetts
  • US District Court, Eastern District of New York
  • US District Court, Southern District of New York