Area of Emphasis

Christina McKinley is an experienced trial lawyer and appellate specialist, serving in Babst Calland’s Litigation, Energy and Natural Resources, and Environmental groups. Ms. McKinley currently serves as co-chair of the Firm’s Litigation Group. Ms. McKinley continually strives to provide business-focused solutions to her clients and routinely serves as a general advisor, counseling clients on day-to-day legal and business questions involving any number of issues. Her practical, proactive approach to problem-solving allows her to provide solutions to clients in a variety of industries. Her experience spans a wide range of industries, including chemicals, manufacturing, retail, energy, and environmental.

As a litigator who focuses on complex commercial matters, Ms. McKinley’s trial litigation practice encompasses all phases of litigation, from early alternative dispute resolution through post-trial motions. She has concentrated experience in complex purchase agreement and commercial contracts disputes, environmental statutes, protection of competitive interests (e.g., Lanham Act, unfair competition, tortious interference, trade secret protection, restrictive covenants), technology disputes (e.g., software services and license agreements), and corporate governance. She has tried numerous cases to verdict.

Notwithstanding her significant first-chair trial experience, Ms. McKinley’s passion lies in the appellate realm. An experienced appellate litigator, Ms. McKinley has practiced before the United States Supreme Court at every stage of the process, including the briefing and preparation of two merits cases that were argued before the Court. She also has briefed and prepared cases for argument before the United States Courts of Appeals for the Second, Third, Sixth, and D.C. Circuits, and she has argued numerous cases before the Pennsylvania intermediate appellate court. Her appellate practice spans a range of substantive fields, including intellectual property, immigration, tax, bankruptcy, and criminal law. In addition, her appellate practice frequently involves challenges to regulatory action and agency decision-making via petitions for review, complex statutory construction issues, and the intersection of regulation and policy.

Background

Prior to joining Babst Calland, Ms. McKinley was a Litigation and Dispute Resolution shareholder in a Pittsburgh firm with a global reach. While there, she served on the firm’s Talent Management Team and Hiring Committee and coordinated the summer-associate workflow for the firm’s summer program. Prior to that, Ms. McKinley began her career at a prestigious D.C.-based global law firm where she served as a senior associate in the Government and Regulatory Litigation, Appellate and Supreme Court Litigation, and Intellectual Property Litigation groups. She also served on the steering committee of the firm’s Women’s Leadership Initiative.

Before entering private practice, Ms. McKinley was a law clerk to the Honorable Janice Rogers Brown of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Before that, she served as a law clerk to the Honorable Michael S. Kanne of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.

Ms. McKinley graduated summa cum laude from The Catholic University of America Columbus School of Law, where she served as a Production Editor on the Board of the Law Review and on the Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot Court Team. She earned her B.A. in History from Duquesne University, where she also graduated summa cum laude and received the Department’s Joseph R. Morice Award for Excellence.