Marlow Svatek

Marlow is a strategic and versatile litigator who draws on her experience clerking for federal trial and appellate judges to craft persuasive arguments and develop effective litigation strategies at every stage of a case.

As a partner in Barack Ferrazzano’s Litigation Group, Marlow represents clients in the fashion, luxury brand, and motor vehicle industries in consumer class actions, complex business disputes, and employment and customer discrimination lawsuits. 

Marlow also maintains a robust pro bono practice. She has successfully obtained asylum for individuals in deportation proceedings and served as lead counsel on impact litigation challenging the Department of Homeland Security’s “public charge” rule, securing a nationwide vacatur after briefing and argument in the district court, Seventh Circuit, and U.S. Supreme Court. 

Outside of her practice, Marlow serves on the firm’s Pro Bono and DEI Committees and co-chairs the firm’s Committee on Retention and Promotion. 

Before joining the firm, Marlow practiced at Sidley Austin, clerked on the Seventh Circuit and the Northern District of California, and served as a U.S. Peace Corps volunteer in Burkina Faso.

Admissions

• State of Illinois
• U.S. Court of Appeals - 7th Circuit
• U.S. District Court - Northern District of Illinois

Clerkships

• Hon. Joel M. Flaum, U.S. Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit (2017-2018)
• Hon. Jon S. Tigar, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California (2016-2017)

Education

• University of Chicago Law School, J.D., with honors, 2016
• University of Miami, B.A, with honors, magna cum laude, 2011

Languages

• One to Watch, Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch (2026)
  • Commercial Litigation 
• Rising Star, Illinois Super Lawyers (2024-2026)
• Rising Recipient, National Association of Women Lawyers (2025)
• Award for Excellence in Public Interest Service, The Judges of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois and the Chicago Chapter of the Federal Bar Association (2023)
• Rising Star, National Immigrant Justice Center (2020)
• Sidley Austin Thomas H. Morsch Award for Pro Bono Achievement (2018 & 2019)
• Ann Watson Barber Outstanding Service Award, University of Chicago Law School (2016)
• Sarah Weddington Writing Prize for New Student Scholarship, Center for Reproductive Rights (2016)
• United Nations Association’s Leo Nevas Human Rights Youth Advocate Award (2012)
• Staffer, University of Chicago Law Review (2013-2016)

• Annual Meeting Host Committee, National Association of Women Lawyers (NAWL) (2024)
• Chair, Public Interest Law Initiative (PILI) Alumni Network Leadership Council (2022-2023)
• Public Interest Law Initiative (PILI) Fellow at the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois (2017)
• Writer-in-Residence, Ms. JD (2016-2017)
• Public Interest Law Initiative (PILI) Intern at the National Immigrant Justice Center (2014)
• Returned U.S. Peace Corps Volunteer, Burkina Faso (2011-2013)