Kristin M. Whidby

Kristin Whidby is a litigation special counsel and registered patent attorney resident in Fried Frank's Washington, DC office.

Kristin's practice is primarily concentrated in the field of intellectual property, including the drafting of patent opinions, providing pre-litigation counseling, and engaging in patent litigation. She has extensive experience in litigating matters relating to a variety of technologies, including in pharmaceutical, chemical, biotechnological, nuclear, computer science, and mechanical fields. Ms. Whidby has assisted in several trials concerning intellectual property issues, including an international arbitration concerning a patent related to night vision technology, a US District Court trial concerning a patent related to coding of digital data, and a US District Court trial over the validity of a patent related to contact lens materials. She has also represented clients in patent-related disputes before the Patent Trial and Appeals Board, Virginia state court, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, and the US Supreme Court.

Following graduation, Kristin served as a law clerk to Chief Judge Andrew J. Effron in the United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces. She is actively involved in the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA) and the United States Group of the International Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property (AIPPI-US). She also serves on the Enforcement Standing Committee of AIPPI.

In addition to her intellectual property practice, Kristin has extensive experience with commercial real estate-related litigations, including complex zoning and land use disputes, commercial fair market rent arbitrations, and partnership disputes. She has also litigated a wide range of other general civil and commercial matters, and she has experience with criminal matters, including questions of constitutional law, through her clerkship and pro bono work.

Kristin is deeply committed to providing pro bono services, with a particular focus on helping victims of physical and sexual abuse. Kristin volunteers with and is a member of the Junior Board of the DC Volunteer Lawyers Project (“DCVLP”), an organization whose mission is to provide high-quality, free legal services to low-income DC residents in family law cases. Through her work with DCVLP, Kristin provides pro bono legal representation in custody and protection order disputes for survivors of domestic violence and at-risk children. In part because of her work with DCVLP, Kristin was the 2019 recipient of the Florida Bar President's Pro Bono Service Award for the Out-of-State Division. She was named to the Capital Pro Bono Honor Roll with High Honors, which recognizes attorneys who contributed at least 100 hours of pro bono service in the calendar year, in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020.

Kristin is the chair of the Washington, DC office's Working Parents and Caregivers Resource Group and was chosen to sit on the Washington, DC office's Recruitment Committee.