Kate Cahoy is a partner in the Palo Alto office. Her husband served in the Army for five years and she is a regular contributor to the firm’s veterans pro bono efforts.
She specializes in defending clients in complex, high-stakes disputes including class action and antitrust cases. Her practice includes privacy, antitrust, and consumer protection matters in the technology, entertainment, financial services, and food, drug, and cosmetic industries, among others, and she has significant experience litigating cases brought under California’s Section 17200 and other consumer protection, competition, and privacy laws.
How did you get involved with Veterans Pro Bono work at Covington?
I became very involved with veterans issues and legal services work when I joined the inaugural semester of my law school's veterans clinic my 2L year. When I joined Covington, I wanted to find a way to continue contributing to the development of this important area of law and so naturally gravitated toward the veterans pro bono work that Covington was doing. Our wonderful pro bono coordinators are excellent at helping people find pro bono work that fits their interests and skill sets, and they helped me keep an eye out for projects to which I could contribute.
How has your experience as a military spouse contributed to your career?
It definitely helped me learn to be resilient, adaptable, and to try to make the best out of a situation I often couldn't control. There were lots of moves, last-minute changes in plan, times apart, and stressful situations, and learning to adjust to and stay positive in the face of that were good life lessons that I find myself applying in many different contexts now. Overall, though, it was a very humbling experience in seeing firsthand how many service members and their families set aside their own individual interests, comfort, and wellbeing in service of the country.
What advice would you have for your younger self starting out in the legal profession?
Never identify a problem without proposing a solution. Law school and the bar exam teach us to be great issue spotters, which definitely is a helpful and important skill as a practicing lawyer. But it took me a while to learn that you can add much more value by proposing ways to solve the problems, not just by identifying them. Even if you aren't always right, taking that next step in proposing solutions helps demonstrate and hone critical thinking skills and judgment and demonstrates your engagement in the issues at hand.
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