Biography

Kanav’s recent clients include foreign-based multinational corporations involved in multi-million dollar litigation in state and federal courts across the country. Kanav has experience with a wide variety of complex litigation involving products liability, hotel/retail liability, and commercial disputes. Some of these cases involved representing clients in class action suits filed around the country. Kanav’s product liability cases involve catastrophic property loss and/or personal injury related to various manufacturing and complex scientific technologies such as organic polymers and geotechnical engineering. Kanav also advises non-U.S. based clients regarding various international procedural defenses applicable to U.S. litigation.

Kanav is deeply involved in all facets of litigation ranging from substantive motion practice to being the lead trial counsel at trial. In one case, Kanav obtained a no liability verdict for a national home improvement retail chain in the Federal Court of the Northern District of Illinois. He then successfully defended the verdict before the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court of the United States. Kanav has been named as a Rising Star by the Super Lawyers Magazine from 2018 -2022. An honor given to the top 2.5 percent of lawyers in Illinois.

Kanav graduated from The George Washington University Law School (LL.M. 2010, Litigation and Dispute Resolution), Michigan State University College of Law (J.D. 2009, Geoffrey Fieger Trial Practice Institute and Certificate in Intellectual Property), and Emory University (B.A. 2005, Major in Political Science and extensive course work in Biology). While in college, Kanav also worked as a researcher at the University of Pennsylvania working on pharmaceutical targets of cancer and co-authored two scientific papers. Kanav is admitted to the Illinois bar, Northern District of Illinois Federal Trial Bar for the and has also been admitted pro hac vice in various jurisdictions around the country. Kanav is a past board member of Generation Mirror, an organization devoted to promoting awareness about eating disorders.

Credentials

Education:

  • The George Washington University Law School (LL.M. 2010, Litigation and Dispute Resolution)
  • Michigan State University College of Law (J.D. 2009, Geoffrey Fieger Trial Practice Institute and Certificate in Intellectual Property)
  • Emory University (B.A. 2005 major in Political Science and extensive course work in Biology)

Admissions to Practice Law

  • Illinois
  • Northern District of Illinois Federal Trial Bar
  • 7th Circuit Court of Appeals
  • Supreme Court of the United States

Honors

  • Super Lawyers Rising Star 2018-2022

Publications

  • Kanav Bhatheja, A Functional Remedy for a Dysfunctional Regulatory Policy of Functional Foods: An Analysis of the Current Regulations of Functional Foods (2008), in Neal Fortin, ed., Food & Drug Regulation: A Web Book of Student Papers (on file with the Institute for Food Laws and Regulations at Michigan State University)
  • Opposing roles for Akt1 and Akt2 in Rac/Pak signaling and cell migration..Zhou GL, Tucker DF, Bae SS, Bhatheja K, Birnbaum MJ, Field J. J Biol Chem. 2006 Nov 24;281(47):36443-53. Epub 2006 Oct 1.
  • Schwann cells: origins and role in axonal maintenance and regeneration.  Bhatheja K, Field J. Int J Biochem Cell Biol. 2006;38(12):1995-9. Epub 2006 May 27.
 
Representative Matters
  • Kanav works on a broad array of business and complex litigation matters that include claims involving product liability, breach of contract, breach of warranty, fraud/ financial fraud, negligence, premises liability, unfair trade practices, defamation, and trademark/domain name infringement.
  • Kanav obtained a no liability verdict for a national home improvement retail chain in the Federal Court of the Northern District of Illinois.
  • Kanav is currently representing a College in a class action suit that is part of the multi-district litigation stemming from the NCAA football concussion litigation.
  • Kanav defended a foreign company in a multi-million dollar product liability action involving the catastrophic collapse of the largest man-made reinforced slope in North America.
  • Kanav obtained dismissal in the Northern District of California via motion practice of a foreign corporation in a case involving alleged product contamination by corporations food sorting machine.
  • Kanav recently secured $5 million for an insurance company in a subrogation action against its insured involving contaminated food product.
  • Kanav is representing a national bakery to recover damages related to defective bakery machinery at a plant causing millions of dollars in damage.
  • Kanav is currently representing a foreign corporation being sued in a Florida class action stemming from alleged pipe defects in a condominium project.
  • Kanav represented a client in an International Arbitration involving a failed power turbine at a power plant in Chile.  
  • Kanav obtained a multi-million-dollar settlement for a foreign client in a corporate fraud action.
  • Kanav defended a foreign home appliance company in a product liability case involving fires allegedly caused by the home appliance.
  • Kanav secured a very favorable settlement for a model against a billion-dollar company for using his image (misappropriation of likeness) without consent in the company’s advertisements.
  • Kanav represented a world-famous foreign hotel chain in successfully acquiring domain names through UDRP arbitration from parties infringing upon its trademarks.
  • As e-discovery becomes a prevalent aspect of complex litigation, Kanav also manages and organizes e-discovery protocols for cases involving a vast quantity of documents for multinational clients.