Valerie G. Matthews

Valerie Matthews places a high value on building strong client relationships by working to understand their business goals. As an intellectual property attorney, she understands brand value, and helps clients protect their brands, images, and trademarks to help them succeed in their industries and in the marketplace.

Valerie assists intellectual property clients with trademark prosecution and clearance, including investigating search results, preparing risk analysis for new trademarks, investigating fraudulent and infringing domain names, and developing cybersquatter-prevention strategies.

Before joining Barnes & Thornburg full-time, Valerie was a summer associate and supported a six-person trial team on a six-day federal jury trial on the issue of false advertising under the Lanham Act. Specifically, she performed legal research; drafted formal and informal memoranda; reviewed and finalized deposition designations; organized exhibits and objections; and prepared witnesses.

Valerie was previously a law clerk with Krohn & Moss, a local Chicago firm. There, she drafted legal motions and trial briefs pertaining to breach of warranty claims, and she prepared and filed documents including complaints, pretrial material, and discovery requests and responses.

Prior to attending law school, Valerie had a career in public relations with Motion PR in Chicago. Primarily, she developed and executed comprehensive strategic communication plans for consumer, corporate, and lifestyle brands through advertising, media relations, thought leadership, and promotional events.