Sean Gallagher

Sean Gallagher is a highly accomplished trial lawyer and a partner at Bartlit Beck LLP, focusing on complex commercial litigation, including intellectual property disputes. He joined Bartlit Beck in 1996 and has built a practice representing major U.S. and international companies across a broad range of matters, including patent infringement, trade secret misappropriation, and Lanham Act claims.

In patent litigation, Mr. Gallagher handles technically complex subject matter. His experience spans diverse technologies such as semiconductor manufacturing, chip design, computer graphics, medical devices, jet engines, cell phone infrastructure, internet and interactive media, and biotechnology. Notably, he serves as lead counsel for Tempus AI, Inc. in the ongoing patent infringement case Guardant Health, Inc. v. Tempus AI, Inc., which involves liquid biopsy, cancer diagnostics, and genomic analysis patents. While the tracked case is on the defendant's side, Bartlit Beck's intellectual property practice actively represents both plaintiffs and defendants. The firm also engages in matters before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB), including Inter Partes Review (IPR) proceedings, and the Guardant Health case itself involves an IPR.

Beyond patent litigation, Mr. Gallagher has achieved significant trial successes. He secured a complete defense verdict as lead trial counsel for Ethicon/Johnson & Johnson in a three-week jury trial involving pelvic mesh medical devices. He also obtained summary judgment for Pratt & Whitney in an environmental tort case with over $1 billion in alleged damages. His record includes winning a jury trial for Creeden in a computer software trade secret and copyright infringement case, and securing a judgment and injunction for Sensormatic in a patent infringement and trade secret dispute. Mr. Gallagher's trial prowess has been recognized with the Benchmark Litigation's 2026 Trial Lawyer of the Year award.

Mr. Gallagher earned his J.D., magna cum laude, from the University of Michigan Law School and a B.A. with Highest Distinction from the University of Michigan. Following law school, he served as a law clerk to Justice Sandra Day O'Connor of the Supreme Court of the United States and to Judge Alex Kozinski of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. He practices out of Bartlit Beck's Chicago office.