Jennifer A. Kenedy

Partner

111 South Wacker Drive
Chicago, Illinois 60606
Phone: (312) 443-0377
Fax: (312) 896-6377
jkenedy@lockelord.com

Representative Experience

Since 2001:

National Trade Secret Counsel For Fortune 100 Financial Services Company. In 2003 Ms. Kenedy was selected as national counsel on trade secret and noncompete issues for an internationally known financial services company. She obtains injunctions in federal and state courts nationwide against former brokers who leave, join competitors and misappropriate the Company’s proprietary trade secret customer data. She also handles arbitrations before the National Association of Securities Dealers seeking damages caused by the former employee and new employer’s misappropriation of trade secret client data. In the past year she has had cases pending in Massachusetts, Texas, California, Ohio, Maryland, New Jersey and Florida.
National Litigation Counsel for Construction Products Manufacturer. Ms. Kenedy is national litigation counsel for a construction product manufacturer and, in the last two years, has represented the company in commercial and construction lawsuits and claims involving Dulles Airport, the Portland Chinese Classical Garden, a tourist attraction in Portland, Oregon, and other commercial construction claims in Washington D.C., New Jersey, Florida, Wisconsin, Texas and Michigan. She also prosecutes and defends claims nationwide relating to the company’s contractual relationships with its representatives, from enforcement of confidentiality and noncompete clauses to defending against claims of fraud, unfair and deceptive business practices and arbitrary refusals to deal.
ERISA Litigation. Ms. Kenedy is currently Illinois ERISA litigation counsel for one of the nation’s largest insurance companies.
Telecommunication Company’s Distributorship Issues. Ms. Kenedy represents a nationally known telecommunications company on distributorship issues in Illinois. She advises them on issues arising under the Illinois Franchise Disclosure Act and on ‘reasonable notice’ and ‘termination for good cause’ issues. She also enforces the company’s distributorship agreements and has prosecuted a TRO against an authorized distributor based upon their material breach of the non-compete/exclusivity provisions and unauthorized use of the company’s trademarks following termination.
National Vinyl Chloride Toxic Tort Cases Being Refiled In Cook County. Ms. Kenedy has been retained by a national consumer product manufacturer based in Ohio in a series of toxic tort cases recently filed in Cook County involving allegations that vinyl chloride used as a propellant in both industrial and consumer aerosol products causes cancer. These cases, which had been filed in other states, were voluntarily dismissed from those other jurisdictions and are being refiled in Cook County. Each case has over 40 defendants, manufacturers and suppliers of industrial and consumer products, and will be litigated almost exclusively in Chicago.
Maxwell Street Redevelopment By The University of Illinois. Ms. Kenedy was one of three attorneys who, on behalf of the University of Illinois filed eminent domain actions on its behalf to obtain property needed to complete the University of Illinois at Chicago’s successful and well-publicized South Campus Development Project. Jennifer’s trial on one of these properties last year (the only trial arising from over 40 acquisitions) resulted in a directed verdict in favor of the University after she convinced the court to strike the defendant’s valuation expert after cross-examination. In October, 2003, the directed verdict was upheld by the First District in Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois v. Shapiro an opinion that contains rulings on black letter law issues of eminent domain helpful to condemning authorities.
University of Illinois Technology Transfer Initiative. The University recently selected Ms. Kenedy to supervise a team of Locke Lord lawyers to assist in its recent, much-publicized push to translate its research success into success in capitalizing on and protecting its intellectual property rights.

Since 1995:

National Product Liability Counsel For TRW. Ms. Kenedy, with three other Firm attorneys, acted as national counsel for TRW; representing it in catastrophic injury product liability cases in 25 states. She has been lead counsel in over 30 states on significant, complex product liability cases including Conkling v. Standard Steel (1995, Texas) (death; circus train derailment; metallurgical defect in train wheel); Endicott v. Fruehauf (2002, Illinois)(double leg amputee; trailer conspicuity claim; summary judgment after court concluded that plaintiff was more than 50% at fault as a matter of law); Ford v. TRW (2001, Massachusetts)(death of fetus, mother broke neck)(seat belt); Hoffman v TRW (New York)(2001, air bag; blindness; verdict against codefendant for $7 million; settled pre-trial for nuisance value); Hylsky v. Fruehauf (2000, brain injury)(trailer); Price v. Kelsey-Hayes (2001, South Carolina)(death; rear trailer underride); Hasty v. GM (1999, death); Freeburg v. GM (2001, death; fuel gauge); Saunders v. TRW (2000, Arkansas) (beheading of physician)(seat belt); Shannon v. TRW (Pennsylvania)(death)(seat belt); Longo v. GM (burns); Maraviglia v. Polaris (brain injury); Walker v. TRW (Tennessee; defense verdict)(truck steering gear assembly).
Seventh Circuit Sets New Bar For Compliance With Rule 26 After Affirming Summary Judgment For Inadequate Expert Reports In Brain-Injured Toddler Case. In 1998, Ms. Kenedy secured summary judgment in a brain-injured minor case in federal court on behalf of General Motors after barring plaintiff’s experts after they submitted untimely expert reports that failed to meet the requirements of Rule 26. Ms. Kenedy briefed and argued the appeal before the Seventh Circuit, which affirmed the trial court’s strict adherence to Rule 26, its own scheduling orders and Rule 37. The oft-cited opinion, 150 F.3d 735, set a new bar for compliance with the requirements of Rule 26 and its strict interpretation of the obligation to sanction under F.R.C.P. 37.
Defense Verdict For National Car Rental. In 1998, in a two-week trial, Ms. Kenedy defended National Car Rental in a case in which a passenger in a rental car sued for several million dollars after she sustained multiple comminuted leg fractures and a head injury when the car in which she was traveling left the roadway and impacted a tree. The plaintiff alleged the parking brake was defectively adjusted and that National should have detected the misadjustment during its vehicle inspection.