Kirkland & Ellis LLP

Advertising and Marketing: Litigation

Ross Weisman is a retired partner in the Intellectual Property Practice Group in the Chicago office of Kirkland & Ellis LLP. He was also the head of the advertising, marketing and promotions group at Kirkland, which was consistently recognized by Chambers USA as a leading practice group for Advertising: Litigation. Ross counseled a variety of clients in virtually all aspects of advertising and promotions law, including:

• Reviewed advertising and marketing copy for advertisers, promotion houses and advertising agencies;
• Reviewed promotional materials (including, without limitation, rebates, coupons and other pricing incentives);
• Counseled advertisers with respect to substantiation for claims made in advertisements;
• Drafted and negotiated advertising, public relations and media agreements;
• Advised clients with respect to rights of publicity, false endorsement and unfair competition issues in advertisements;
• Drafted various release forms for national advertisers, including, without limitation, releases to use names, photos, testimonials, property or intangible property in advertisements; and
• Assisted clients with Federal Trade Commission and State Attorney General inquiries.

Ross also defended and challenged advertising claims in federal court under 43(a) of the Lanham Act (and worked with the experts who conducted the consumer perception surveys so critical to these cases), as well as before the National Advertising Division (NAD) and National Advertising Review Board (NARB) of the BBB National Programs, Inc.

Ross was named a “Hall of Fame” attorney for Advertising and Marketing Litigation in the 2023, 2024 and 2025 editions of The Legal 500 United States. From 2015–2025, Ross was recognized as a leading lawyer in Chambers USA, America's Leading Lawyers for Business for his Advertising Litigation work. Indeed, Chambers USA described Ross as “a superb NAD practitioner,” with sources adding, “he is very smart and he has a lot of experience.” Another source noted, “Besides his depth of experience, he has such strong and positive relationships with NAD attorneys that you get the benefits of that when working in what can be a very difficult system."

Member of Brand Activation Agency (BAA), formerly the Promotional Marketing Association

Boston University School of Law, J.D., cum laude, 1993

Northwestern University, B.A., 1988