David L. Applegate

Trial Lawyer and Fellow, Litigation Counsel of America

David Applegate is a Chicago-based trial lawyer and partner at the law firm of Williams Montgomery & John Ltd., where he chairs the intellectual property practice group and is a member of the commercial litigation and transportation industry practice groups. He is a policy advisor for legal affairs for The Heartland Institute.

An accomplished public speaker and frequent writer on topics of legal and public interest, Mr. Applegate is an honors graduate of Yale College and received his law degree from The University of Chicago, where he chaired the Hinton Moot Court Committee and won the Lewis F. Powell Award for Excellence in Advocacy as a member of the school’s award-winning national moot court team.

Mr. Applegate has appeared on both local and national television beginning in high school, including a nationally-televised debate with William F. Buckley, Jr. against then-United States Senator Lowell Weicker, Jr. (R, CT) on CBS in the “60 Minutes” time slot, and a recent appearance on the Fox Business News Channel.  The subjects of his professional writing include federal discovery, trial practice, and direct and cross-examination technique; law practice marketing and management; the intellectual property implications of the Affordable Care Act (a/k/a “Obamacare”); and many aspects of patent, trademark, and copyright law, including patentable subject matter, patent damages, and copyright term extension.

His letters have seen print in publications as diverse as The Chicago Tribune, The Chicago Daily Law Bulletin, Sports Illustrated, and The Wall Street Journal.

Mr. Applegate is a Fellow of Litigation Counsel of America, a trial lawyer honor society; is currently President of The Chicago Lincoln Inn of Court, a commercial litigation Inn; and is an active Member Emeritus of the Richard Linn Inn of Court, part of the nationwide Linn Alliance of American Inns of Court that focus on intellectual property.

A long-serving member of the Executive Committee of the Chicago Lawyers Chapter of the Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy and of the Society’s Intellectual Property Law Practice Group, Mr. Applegate is a strong supporter of the Bill of Rights and believes strongly in individual liberties and the wisdom of the Constitutional structure of separation of powers and limited government.

His support for both conservative and libertarian causes and organizations includes the Heartland Institute, he Heritage Foundation, the Cato Institute, the Human Rights Campaign, The Federalist Society, and the American Constitution Society.

A model railroad enthusiast, Mr. Applegate is also a nationally-known cartoon art historian and critic who collects and writes about original comic strip, comic book, and editorial cartoon art, and is the founder and chair of the Columbia College Chicago John Fischetti Scholarship Fund Advisory Board. 

David L. Applegate Contributions

March 15, 2021
  • Government & Politics
January 12, 2021
  • Government & Politics
January 5, 2021
  • Government & Politics
November 7, 2018
  • Government & Politics
  • Government & Liberty