Overview
(April 1, 2021, Chicago) — Steptoe partner Jay Nuttall has been named to The American Lawyer's 2021 list of Midwest Trailblazers. The list is featured in a supplement in the April issue of the legal publication.
Nuttall is a nationally recognized patent litigator with broad experience representing clients in courts throughout the country. He has been recognized in numerous legal directories and publications including Top 100 Illinois Super Lawyers, Chambers USA and Intellectual Asset Magazine's "IAM Patent 1000" and "IAM Strategy 300." In 2019, Nuttall was named to Crain's Chicago Business's list of "Notable Gen X Leaders in Law."
Nuttall litigates and tries high value intellectual property cases and is known for creative and innovative strategies to achieve successful outcomes for his clients. On March 10, he scored a Federal Circuit win for American Axle & Manufacturing Inc. when the appeals court affirmed a Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) ruling that invalidated Neapco Drivelines LLC's vehicle drive shaft patent challenged by American Axle. Nuttall is also representing American Axle before the US Supreme Court relating to a bitterly divided Federal Circuit decision finding that certain claims of a patent for damping vibration in drive shafts were unpatentable subject matter. The case has been called one of the most high-profile patent cases of both 2020 and 2021.
Nuttall is also lead counsel on numerous other significant cases, including a major patent enforcement campaign related to web design and development technology against the largest ecommerce companies in the country. He serves as lead trial counsel for VTech, RR Donnelley, Leapfrog, American Honda, Express Mobile, GPU and numerous other clients.
Nuttall is a leader in the Sedona conference, effectuating change in multiple areas of the law including patent litigation and damages and trade secret litigation under the new federal statute. He mentors young lawyers to provide firsthand experience with clients and in court, and works with students at the Loyola University Chicago School of Law. In his pro bono work, Nuttall advises nonprofits including Grit 2 and Noah's Hope.
Nuttall has also been a leader at Steptoe as the co-chair of the firm's global intellectual property group. He also previously served as managing partner of the firm's Chicago office from 2014-2019.
About Steptoe
In more than 100 years of practice, Steptoe has earned an international reputation for vigorous representation of clients before governmental agencies, successful advocacy in litigation and arbitration, and creative and practical advice in structuring business transactions. Steptoe has more than 500 lawyers and other professional staff across offices in Beijing, Brussels, Chicago, Hong Kong, London, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, and Washington. For more information, visit www.steptoe.com.
