Cynthia J. Rigsby is a partner with Foley & Lardner LLP, where she is the IP Department chair for the Milwaukee office and vice-chair of the IP Litigation Practice. She is also a member of the International Practice and the firm’s Medical Device Initiative.
Ms. Rigsby’s practice involves the resolution of patent, copyright, trade secret, and other complex commercial disputes. Her work involves various industries and technical areas, including pharmaceutical, medical device, telecommunications, media, entertainment, automotive, sports, Internet, semiconductors, and financial services.
Ms. Rigsby has significant trial experience, and has successfully first- and second-chaired both jury and bench trials. She has appeared before both state and federal courts, including appellate courts, and has represented clients in preliminary injunction hearings, in arbitrations, and before governmental agencies.
Ms. Rigsby also has extensive experience with the day-to-day management of complex fact-intensive cases, and thus the cases she has taken successfully through to trial include these multi-million dollar cases and class actions. She has also managed and conducted complex fact-intensive internal investigations, including investigations relating to trade secrets and federal compliance issues, and has counseled clients with regard to related governmental investigations.
Her most recent case experience led to a $400 million settlement between a global leader in medical technology and a global health care company. The litigation between the companies dated to 1998 and involved lawsuits in the U.S. and across Europe, all of which are now settled. Ms. Rigsby had significant responsibility for the day-to-day management of that matter, and argued discovery motions, claim construction, summary judgment, and pre-trial motions.
Ms. Rigsby has served as an adjunct professor at Marquette University Law School, teaching an IP litigation course. Ms. Rigsby has lectured on a variety of litigation topics, including topics relating to electronic discovery, depositions, claim construction, expert witness practice, damages and case management. She has also lectured on ethics issues.
Ms. Rigsby is the current co-chair of the Intellectual Property Section of the Milwaukee Bar Association. She is a member of the Trade Secrets Committee of the Intellectual Property Owners Association and the American Society of Trial Consultants.
Ms. Rigsby was honored by the Wisconsin Law Journal as one of the Women in the Law 2013. This distinguished listing recognizes women attorneys who achieved excellence in their respective fields, benefitted the legal profession through their community involvement, and influenced other women to pursue legal careers.
Ms. Rigsby is admitted to practice in Wisconsin, before the U.S. District Courts for the Eastern and Western Districts of Wisconsin, and before the Federal Circuit and the Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.
Ms. Rigsby received her bachelor’s degree, summa cum laude, from the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee, and her J.D. degree, cum laude, from the University of Wisconsin – Madison in 1998, where she was elected to the Order of the Coif. Prior to joining Foley, Ms. Rigsby also served as an extern to Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals Judge John L. Coffey.