Tottis, Kevin

For the better part of the past four decades, Kevin’s litigated commercial and intellectual property cases around the country. He currently heads up TottisLaw, a Chicago litigation boutique he started after several years as a partner in a national law firm. Last month, TottisLaw was one of only a dozen firms recognized for its intellectual property practice by Chambers in its inaugural Chicago “Regional Spotlight Guide” of small and midsized law firms.

Kevin recently led a team representing a theatrical publisher against the Harper Lee Estate over the Estate’s improper attempts to limit his client’s licensing rights in its 1969 stage adaptation of To Kill a Mockingbird. Following a five-week arbitration, an arbitrator issued multiple permanent injunctions against the Lee Estate, awarded damages and over $2.5 million in attorneys’ fees. An Illinois federal district court confirmed the award and awarded additional fees.

Kevin often speaks and writes on IP issues. He serves as an arbitrator with the American Arbitration Association and is on the faculty of the Practicing Law Institute. He’s been an American Bar Foundation Life Fellow since 2018, an Illinois “Super Lawer” since 2010 and a Martindale Hubbell AV Preeminent-rated attorney since 1996.

In addition to a stint on the AIPLA Board of Directors, Kevin chaired AIPLA’s Copyright Committee and the 2011 Mid-Winter Institute. Currently, he’s an AIPLA Fellow and chairs the Association’s Public Appointments Committee and its APA Task Force. He’s on the steering committee of the U.S. group of the  Association Internationale pour la Protection de la Propriètè Intellectuelle  and is one of the U.S. representatives on  AIPPI’s Copyright Law Committee. He also served on the Executive Committee and Board of the Copyright Society and the Lawyers Club of Chicago. Kevin received both his A.B. and J.D. from the University of Michigan.