Steven Zalesin is a Partner in Patterson Belknap’s Litigation department. He is a nationally renowned trial lawyer with extensive experience in false advertising, intellectual property, and complex commercial matters. He has successfully tried cases and argued appeals in numerous courts throughout the United States.
For more than 30 years, Mr. Zalesin has represented the nation’s leading consumer products companies in a series of groundbreaking cases that have shaped the law of false advertising, while helping to preserve and grow the markets for clients’ products. In the past year, he has won dismissal of several high-profile “greenwashing” cases, in which clients were accused of misrepresenting the environmental impact of their operations. In addition, he has successfully defended multiple clients in putative class actions that alleged that their products contained dangerous contaminants. Mr. Zalesin is currently defending major beverage, consumer healthcare, household goods, and confectionary companies in litigation over their product labeling and advertising.
In 2016, Mr. Zalesin secured a federal jury verdict for the world’s leading beverage company in a closely-watched dispute over juice labeling. He initially obtained summary judgment dismissing the claims against our client, and successfully defended that ruling before the Ninth Circuit. The U.S. Supreme Court then vacated the Ninth Circuit’s decision and remanded the case for trial. The Los Angeles jury rejected the competitor’s claims in full, returning a verdict in our client’s favor after a six-day trial and less than a day of deliberation. As a result, Mr. Zalesin was named “Litigator of the Week” by The American Lawyer. In 2020, he obtained a noteworthy dismissal of a class action complaint that targeted a leading online petitioning platform and its efforts to promote racial justice following the murder of George Floyd. The National Law Journal recently named Mr. Zalesin to its 2023 list of “Media & Entertainment Law Trailblazers.” He is also listed in Chambers USA as a leading practitioner in the area of Advertising: Litigation, where he is described as “absolutely terrific.” Clients note, he “is one of the top advertising litigators in the country. He is a very good writer and a very effective oral advocate who is excellent in court. He’s an all-round top lawyer.” Clients praised his “good, calm demeanor as an advocate in the courtroom.”
Mr. Zalesin has been named as a “Client Service All-Star” by The BTI Consulting Group for the past several years. This award recognizes attorneys who “stand above all the others in delivering the absolute best in client service.”
Mr. Zalesin received his B.S. from Syracuse University, magna cum laude, and his J.D., cum laude, from the University of Pennsylvania Law School, where he served as Editor of the University of Pennsylvania Law Review.
Updated Aug 2023
