Overview
Darlene Alt concentrates her practice on complex commercial litigation and insurance coverage disputes. She defends clients in complex litigation, including class actions, mass consolidated actions, arbitrations, and mediation. She represents a wide range of clients in state and federal courts across the country in matters involving consumer fraud, deceptive trade practices, insurance coverage, mass torts, products liability, insurance sale practices, breach of contract, trade secrets, and bad faith and extracontractual liability claims.
Darlene regularly advises domestic and international insurers on complex claims and coverage issues. She counsels insurers on a wide array of issues related to large exposure claims involving professional services (lawyers, accountants, healthcare, architects & engineers), toxic torts, pharmaceutical products, medical devices, environmental contamination, employment related practices, sexual molestation and abuse, workers’ compensation, and catastrophic losses, including representing various US and London insurers in 9/11 World Trade Center litigation. Darlene also works closely with insurance clients on product development and insurance policy wording.
Darlene’s litigation experience includes defending retailers against putative class claims involving consumer fraud and deceptive sales practices; representing medical device and pharmaceutical manufacturers against product liability and product defect claims; defending clients in disputes involving covenants not to compete, trade secrets and intellectual property rights; representing insurers against coverage, bad faith and extracontractual liability claims involving professional liability, employment liability, disability and general liability insurance policies, both primary and excess; and defending financial institutions in actions involving mortgage foreclosure practices and disputes over the purchase and sale of credit card portfolios.
- Illinois
- Rhode Island
- US District Court, District of Rhode Island
- US District Court, Northern District of Illinois
- US District Court, Eastern District of Michigan
- US Court of Appeals, First Circuit
- US Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit
- US Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit
- J.D., Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law, 1995, cum laude; Order of the Coif
- B.A., University of Michigan, 1991, with distinction
Areas of Work
Speaking Engagements
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"Lessons Learned from Female Litigators," Centerforce's Women in Law & Leadership Conference, Chicago, IL, June 6, 2018
News & Publications
Publications
Food, Beverage, and Supplements Litigation: Staying Out of the Crosshairs
Food Safety Magazine
November 7, 2019
By: Darlene K. Alt
Media Mentions
Media Cover Steptoe's Win for L.L. Bean in Proposed Class Action Lawsuit
March 18, 2019
Client Alerts
Government Issues Warnings on Dietary Supplements - What's Next?
February 20, 2019
Client Alerts
Update on Illinois' Biometric Information Privacy Act Litigation
January 28, 2019
By: Darlene K. Alt
Press Releases
Steptoe Receives 32 Practice, 135 Individual Mentions in Legal 500 US 2018
May 30, 2018
Press Releases
Steptoe Adds Seven-Lawyer Litigation Group in San Francisco and Chicago
January 4, 2018
Noteworthy
- Legal 500 US, Industry focus: Insurance, advice to insurers (2018)
Professional Affiliations
- Defense Research Institute
- Association of Professional Insurance Women
- Lawyers' Professional Liability Consortium, American Bar Association