Blank Rome is pleased to share that partner Rachel L. Schaller has been recognized in Law Bulletin Media’s "40 Under Forty" list of 2025 Illinois Attorneys to Watch, published in Chicago Lawyer and Chicago Daily Law Bulletin.
This annual honor highlights 40 of the most talented young attorneys practicing in Illinois. According to the publication, the honorees are selected for their intelligence, passion, professional success, commitment to community service, and dedication to one of the country’s most important professions.
To view the 40 Under Forty list, please click here.
Rachel's honoree profile, as published by Law Bulletin Media, is copied in full below.
Rachel Schaller's colleagues say that this commercial litigator and counselor is both a zealous advocate and strategic advisor for her clients. That combination has helped Schaller build a reputation as an attorney who consistently delivers winning results for her colleagues.
Schaller focuses on complex technology and data privacy cases, including consumer class actions and business-to-business disputes. In addition to her skills in the courtroom, Schaller provides her clients valuable counsel on issues ranging from employment laws to data privacy and intellectual property protections.
One nominator pointed to the work Schaller turned in during a complex biometric multi-district class action as an example of her legal skill. In a case that lasted years, and one that featured extensive discovery, Schaller and her team secured a complete release for the nominator's client, a result that required the client to pay no money.
"It was a great result in a tough venue where the law was continuing to develop as the case progressed," the nominator said. The nominator referred to this result as one that was "almost impossible."
Keeping up with the rapid pace of technology, Schaller under stands that traditional legal principles still apply even when the most complex technologies are involved. She used this exact approach to jettison an online defamation claim based on the lack of personal jurisdiction and a massive biometric privacy class action based on choice of law principles. In another data privacy win, she obtained one of the first (and only) dismissals of a California privacy claim alleging novel website tracking theories.
In addition to her focus on technology and the law, Schaller is a tenured employment law practitioner. Her victories span from defeating the certification of a nationwide collective action for a national banking association and prevailing against certification of a class action against a regional transportation authority to prevailing against individual employment claims in arbitration and on summary judgment.
Schaller combines her love of technology and employment background in her high-stakes trade secrets practice. She has both obtained and defeated preliminary injunctions and temporary restraining orders for her clients in the areas of trade secrets and unlawful competition.
Schaller is a thought leader in the areas of data privacy. She serves on a drafting committee for the Sedona Conference on Data Security and Privacy Liability exploring cutting edge issues in artificial intelligence. She also contributes to the legal profession through her work on the Illinois State Bar Association where she serves as CLE coordinator for the Information Privacy and Security section.
