Practice Profile: Karen Chesley is a commercial litigator who focuses on high-stakes litigation, including contract disputes, trade secrets litigation, and matters involving international law.

In May 2018, she won multiple summary judgment motions in the Southern District of New York on behalf of real estate firm The Related Companies, L.P. In the first pair of decisions, which involved Related’s claims against a former business associate for misappropriating funds Related had provided to procure building facades, Ms. Chesley secured a $2 million judgment for Related’s breach of fiduciary duty claim and preserved Related’s civil RICO claims for trial. In a related decision, Ms. Chesley secured the dismissal of various trade secrets claims brought by the former associate, with U.S. District Judge Jed S. Rakoff holding that the plaintiff failed to sufficiently identify specific trade secrets or any improper use of such information. On Aug. 14, 2018, Judge Rakoff refused to revive the plaintiff’s claims.