Forbes Names Deepro Mukerjee and David Crichlow to "America's Top Lawyers 2025" List

Intellectual Property Partner and Department Chair Deepro Mukerjee and Litigation Partner and Department Co-Chair David Crichlow were both named to the "America's Top Lawyers 2025" list by Forbes. The second-annual list, according to Forbes, "spotlights the nation's finest attorneys in private practice" who have "distinguished themselves through notable deals and transactions, impressive trial work, wise counsel, [and] respect from colleagues, arbiters and clients."

Deepro was honored, in part, for his notable wins in court, including a landmark decision where he successfully invalidated multiple patent claims at the claim construction stage in an industry-watched multi-patent litigation in the Southern District of New York. Noted for his particular expertise in the pharmaceutical arena, Deepro was also lauded for obtaining favorable outcomes in numerous generic-drug patent disputes. Furthermore, Forbes highlighted Deepro's recent engineering of a global settlement that resolved multijurisdictional patent disputes for a top-five generic pharmaceutical company, eliminating billions in potential exposure and preserving market entry timelines. In addition to his active practice, Deepro holds multiple leadership roles within Katten. Along with being the Global Intellectual Property Department Chair, Deepro is a member of the firm's Executive Committee and its Board of Directors.

David was lauded, in part, for his role as lead trial counsel in a $6.3 billion dispute against Caesars Entertainment Corporation, in which he represented the Indenture Trustee for first-lien noteholders in a suit over breach of a parent guarantee, ultimately resulting in full payment with interest. He has also been tapped by one of the world's largest industrial gas companies as lead counsel in a suit against the Russian Federation's gas company, Gazprom, and one of its subsidiaries. The case was brought as a result of a Russian court issuing an order to seize the US industrial gas company's helium storage tanks located in Russia as a result of the US company abiding by current EU and other global sanctions that prohibit its performance in an unrelated commercial contract with the Gazprom subsidiary. In addition to the substantial amounts in controversy as a result of the alleged unlawful seizure, the case raises novel geopolitical issues arising from global sanctions against Russia, and Russia's retreat from international legal conventions and the use of its courts to violate the property rights of foreign businesses doing business, or having substantial holdings, in Russia. As Litigation Department Co-Chair, David oversees more than 150 Katten attorneys across the United States and London and, along with Deepro, serves on the firm's Executive Committee and its Board of Directors. Additionally, David serves on the board of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.

As with all Forbes recognition lists, winners are selected using an in-depth, multi-stage process that includes interviews with industry insiders, editorial research, and outreach through law firms and local, state and national bar associations to identify leaders with impressive track records in their practice areas. This methodology and assessment process were designed by an editorial team with broad experience in law practice and knowledge of the legal marketplace.

"America’s Top Lawyers 2025," Forbes, September 15, 2025