Dale Cendali
Covington & Burling Distinguished Visitor and Lecturer on Law
Fall 2024
Dale Cendali is a partner in Kirkland & Ellis LLP’s New York office and chairs Kirkland’s Copyright, Trademark, Internet and Advertising Practice Group. She is a nationally recognized leader in the field of intellectual property litigation, having successfully litigated and tried numerous high-profile cases, causing her to be named an “Icon of IP” by IP360. The National Law Journal selected her as one of the “100 Most Influential Lawyers in America.” She has repeatedly been ranked as a “top tier” lawyer by Chambers Global and Chambers USA, which describes her as “one of the best lawyers in the country” in her field. The World Trademark Review named Dale a “revered branding expert” who “remains keenly engaged in the development of the law;” “at the top of anybody’s list of the best trademark lawyers in the country.” Euromoney Legal Media Group has also repeatedly named Dale as both “Best in Copyright” and “Best in Trademark” in the Americas at its Women in Business Law Awards, and she was named an Outstanding Litigator in New York, as well as one of the Top 10 Women in IP by Managing Intellectual Property.
Dale’s high-profile cases involve the Obama “Hope” poster, Victoria’s Secret, the Spider-Man musical, Oracle’s Java, Tetris, Fox News, X-Men, AT&T’s Thanks, Take Two’s videogames (including the 2K series, GTA and Red Dead Redemption), Epic Games’ Fortnite, Disney T-shirts, Colgate’s “Total,” Travelers’ Umbrella, Nike’s marks, Virgin Cruises and sophisticated technology. She has argued before the Supreme Court and won the Harry Potter Lexicon trial for JK Rowling and Warner Bros. Dale writes and lectures extensively on intellectual property and litigation law topics and has held many senior positions in the bar. She is a graduate of Yale College and Harvard Law School.
Education
- B.A. Yale University, 1981
- J.D. Harvard Law School, 1984