Dalton Hughes

Dalton’s practice revolves around counseling clients on intellectual property matters and complex litigation, including trademark, copyright, trade secret, antitrust, AI, and unfair competition matters. At Crowell, he has represented plaintiffs and defendants with diverse federal and state litigation needs, including complex software discovery disputes, multiparty depositions, successful preliminary injunction motions and settlement conferences, and favorable verdicts after jury trials lasting up to six weeks. Dalton’s transactional practice includes developing AI and privacy risk compliance guidelines, full-service copyright protection assistance, enforcing global trademark portfolios, negotiating advertising agreements, and counseling clients on IP due diligence transactions.

Within the firm, Dalton co-leads the Intellectual Property Group’s AI vertical and is a member of the AI Working Group. He is active in the emerging technology industry, maintaining membership in the Esports Bar Association and the Virtual Reality/Augmented Reality Association, as well as guest lecturing at law schools on the intersection of IP and new media issues. He also maintains a varied pro bono docket, including representing tenants in leasing disputes, enforcing international nonprofit trademark rights, and assisting independent musicians and artists with protecting their work.

Previously, Dalton externed for the Honorable Joan H. Lefkow at the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois and worked at a leading global music publishing label executing copyright and royalty management.

Outside of private practice, Dalton is active in the Chicago arts community, serving on the associate boards of local theaters. A Nashville native, Dalton attended the University of Illinois College of Law in Champaign-Urbana, where he was a managing editor of the University of Illinois Law Review.