Four Chicago Partners Listed Among 2020 Notable Women in Law by Crain's Chicago Business

Chicago – Four partners in the Chicago office of global law firm K&L Gates LLP have been named among the 2020 Notable Women in Law by Crain’s Chicago Business. Lauren Norris Donahue, Alexis Crawford Douglas, Molly McGinley, and Katherine Staba were recognized on the list for their ability to effect change in their roles and practice areas and serve as role models who have assumed leadership positions in professional or civic organizations. 

Donahue is a partner in the firm’s antitrust, competition & trade regulation and investigations, enforcement and white collar practice groups. She focuses her practice on domestic and international internal investigations, corporate criminal defense, complex commercial litigation, and antitrust counseling. Donahue is also active in the firmwide Women in the Profession group, and is the chair of the Chicago office’s Associate Development Committee.

Douglas focuses her practice in the area of intellectual property, handling a range of transactional and litigation matters related to trademarks, domain names, social media, and copyrights. She provides strategic management of global trademark portfolios for clients ranging from multi-national to start-up companies in a variety of industries. Douglas was recently elected to the Board of Managers of The Chicago Bar Association.

McGinley is a member of the firm’s securities and transactional litigation practice and class action litigation defense group, where she concentrates on complex litigation, including investment company litigation, securities litigation, and class action defense litigation. She has litigated in numerous state and federal jurisdictions, representing a broad range of clients, including small companies, Fortune 500 companies, and investment advisers. McGinley is a member of the firm’s Global Advisory Board for Women In Law Empowerment Forum (WILEF) and serves as co-chair of WILEF Chicago.

Staba is a partner in the firm’s technology transactions and data protection practice group, where she focuses on complex global transactions and counseling relating to digital media planning and buying, advertising and marketing, claim substantiation, software licensing, and intellectual property issues in mergers and acquisitions, investments, unfair competition and trade secrets, and competitive intelligence. Her clients span a number of industries including beauty products, home products, sports organizations, media platforms, cloud computing providers, luxury goods, clothing retailers, and more. 

Crain’s Notable Women in Law list speaks to the rising influence of women in the legal field, representing almost every major practice, from fundamentals such as real estate and employment law to newer fields such as cybersecurity, gaming, and cannabis.