Michelle Smit advises clients on the development, protection, and enforcement of intellectual property assets in industries ranging from pharmaceuticals to e-commerce to education to telecommunications. She focuses her practice on civil litigation, involving primarily patents and trademarks, as well as copyrights.
Michelle has experience in a broad range of prelitigation activities, including fact and expert discovery, preparing for and assisting at depositions, and drafting various types of briefs and motions, including summary judgment briefs. She has represented clients in proceedings filed in federal courts and before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB).
Michelle maintains an active pro bono practice by assisting with the Firm's Laredo Project where she provides immigration counseling and representation to Central American women fleeing persecution. Before joining Jones Day, Michelle worked as a Public Interest Law Initiative (PILI) Fellow for Equip for Equality (EFE), a nonprofit that protects the civil and human rights of people with disabilities. She is also actively involved with Chicago Women in IP (ChiWIP) and The Coalition of Women's Initiatives in Law.
Experience
- University of Notre Dame (J.D. summa cum laude 2018; Articles Editor, Notre Dame Law Review); Grand Valley State University (B.B.A. in Marketing and B.A. in Chinese Studies summa cum laude 2015)
- Illinois, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, and U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
- Law Clerk to Judge Kenneth Ripple, U.S. Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit (2019-2020)