KATHERINE E. PERRELLI

Kate Perrelli is a nationally recognized lawyer and mediator with more than three decades of experience litigating and advising clients in high-stakes business conflicts involving trade secrets, noncompetition agreements, unfair competition, fiduciary duties, wrongful termination, executive departures, discrimination claims, and complex commercial disputes. 

Known for her sound judgment and pragmatic approach, Kate is viewed by clients and colleagues not only as a formidable advocate, but as a steady, trusted mediator who lowers the temperature in the room, moves discussions beyond entrenched positions, and creates space for candid dialogue. Parties and counsel value her subject-matter expertise and practical understanding of how disputes arise, escalate, and ultimately resolve. 

ate spent many years as an equity partner at Seyfarth Shaw LLP in Boston and served as National Chair of the firm’s Litigation Department, and then co-Chair of the Trade Secrets, Computer Fraud & Noncompete practice group. Before transitioning to neutral work, she was entrusted with bet-the-company disputes, emergency injunction proceedings, and matters requiring swift, strategic judgment. 

Consistently recognized by leading legal publications and ratings organizations for excellence in commercial litigation and trade secret law, she is a frequent speaker and author on restrictive covenants, trade secrets, employee mobility, and dispute resolution. Her decades of courtroom and arbitration experience enable her to evaluate risk realistically, test assumptions thoughtfully, and help parties focus on outcomes rather than narratives. 

Kate has mediated disputes at every stage of the conflict lifecycle—from pre-suit and early-intervention matters to cases pending in state and federal courts, arbitrations, and regulatory forums. She has led hundreds of mediations involving discrimination, harassment, retaliation, executive and team departures, alleged trade secret misappropriation, restrictive covenant enforcement and reformation, employee-raiding claims, and complex commercial and contractual disputes. She serves as a neutral in all such matters at Invoke. 

Known for her meticulous preparation, credibility, and calm command of complex facts, Kate is particularly effective in disputes involving reputational risk, ongoing business relationships, and the need for creative, business-forward resolutions. She frequently assists parties in crafting tailored covenant modifications, role restructuring, confidentiality and compliance frameworks, and transition agreements that address both legal exposure and practical business realities. 

Representative Dispute Experience 

Her ability to assess litigation risk and guide parties toward durable resolutions is grounded in decades of experience handling matters such as: 

•  Multijurisdictional trade secret and employee-raiding litigation involving the departure of an entire regional sales team, resolved on the eve of trial with a multimillion-dollar payment and negotiated hiring and solicitation restrictions.

•  Emergency injunction proceedings in federal and state courts involving noncompetition agreements, alleged misuse of confidential information, “inevitable disclosure” claims, and alleged violations of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.

•  Executive departure disputes alleging breach of fiduciary duty, tortious interference, unfair competition, and trade secret misappropriation across financial services, biotech, laboratory services, and industrial sectors.

•  Commercial contract disputes tried to verdict, including asset purchase agreement litigation involving allegations of misrepresentation and preemption of non-contract claims.

•  High-stakes arbitration involving multimillion-dollar pharmaceutical rebate agreement disputes.

•  Franchise, distribution, and technology licensing disputes involving unfair trade practices, immediate injunctive relief, and surrender of intellectual property.

•  Discrimination, harassment, retaliation, and wrongful terminationclaims in court and before administrative agencies, including proceedings before the MCAD, securing dismissals following lack-of-probable-cause findings and achieving favorable negotiated resolutions.

•  Shareholder and founder disputes involving fiduciary duty claims, internal governance conflicts, and closely held company transitions.