Helen E. Witt, P.C.

Partner Litigation

Chicago +1 312 862 2148

Helen E. Witt, P.C.

Overview

Helen has been a trial lawyer at Kirkland for more than 40 years. She has tried numerous cases to courts, juries and arbitrators in over a dozen states. Helen is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers.

In addition to her work for clients, Helen has served on numerous philanthropic and legal services-related Boards and has been involved in other professionally-related activities. In 2018, she was appointed by Chief Justice John Roberts to serve as a member of the United States Judicial Conference’s Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure, Advisory Committee on Civil Rules. She was reappointed for a second three year term in 2021.

Helen has taught Trial Practice and Complex Civil Litigation at her alma mater, The University of Chicago Law School, and guest lectured at the law schools at the University of Michigan, Loyola University of Chicago and Northwestern University.

More

Thought Leadership

Publications

Co-Editor, "Current Issues At the Crossroads of Science, Technology and the Law," Scientific Evidence Review, Mono. 7 (2006)

Author, "Expert Evidence in the Seventh Circuit," Scientific Evidence Review, Mono. 4 (2001), Mono. 6 (2003), Mono. 8 (2008), and Mono. 9 (2013)

Recognition

“500 Leading Lawyers,” Lawdragon (2025)

“500 Leading Litigators,” Lawdragon, 2024–2025

Memberships & Affiliations

Visiting Committee Member, University of Chicago Law School (2009 to 2011)

Member, Board of Directors, Federal Bar Association, Chicago Chapter (2006 to 2009)

Co-Chair of the ABA's Scientific Evidence Committee, Section of Science and Technology Law (2004 to 2006)

Member, Board of Trustees, Legal Assistance Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago (1998 to 2004)

Adjunct Professor, Trial Practice and Complex Civil Litigation, University of Chicago Law School (2004 to 2007)

Member, Parents Philanthropy Board, The George Washington University (2012 to present)

Credentials

Admissions & Qualifications

  • 1982Illinois
  • 2023New Hampshire

Courts

  • United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois1982
  • United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit1985
  • United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit1985
  • United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Trial Bar1988
  • United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit1999
  • United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit2002
  • United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida2006
  • Supreme Court of the United States2010
  • United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois2012
  • United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas2012
  • United States District Court for the Central District of Illinois2014

Education

  • University of Chicago Law SchoolJ.D.1982
    Hinton Prize (1981) for First Place in Appellate Moot Court competition
  • Yale UniversityB.A.1979