Practice Expertise

  • Arbitration and Mediation
  • Commercial Litigation
  • Construction and Engineering Litigation
  • Energy and Environmental Litigation

Areas of Practice

  • Arbitration and Mediation
  • Commercial Litigation
  • Construction and Engineering Litigation
  • Energy and Environmental Litigation
  • Appeals
  • COVID-19 Litigation
  • Energy Litigation
  • First Amendment and Free Speech
  • Issues and Appeals
  • Litigation
  • Managed Care and ERISA
  • Managed Care Litigation
  • View More

Profile

Katy is counsel in the Litigation section of the Houston office.

She has experience in all stages of the trial and appellate processes and is board certified in civil appellate law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. She served as Law Clerk to The Honorable J. Dale Wainwright of the Texas Supreme Court and as Law Clerk to The Honorable Jennifer Walker Elrod of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. In 2016, Katy was the sole recipient of the American Bar Association’s National Outstanding Young Lawyers Award, Outstanding Young Lawyer of Houston Award, and the Outstanding Young Lawyer of Texas.

Katy has extensive experience in both state and federal courts litigating constitutional and election issues, commercial, oil and gas, and copyright disputes, and countless other matters. Her clients have spanned a wide range of industries, including both government entities and hospitals, banks, oil and gas companies, aerospace companies, and others.

Representative Experience

  • Representation of a real estate investment company in a dispute involving the applicability of the Rule Against Perpetuities to an option to purchase the land upon which a multi-story downtown parking garage was constructed.
  • Representation of a large aerospace company in defense against a Texas Public Information Act request.
  • Representation of a leading global investment bank in modifying a federal court injunction prohibiting foreclosure on properties worth millions of dollars.
  • Representation of a large homebuilder in defending against claims of copyright infringement of architectural designs for duplex townhomes involving complex issues relating to substantial similarity and the extent of copyright protection afforded to derivative works.
  • Representation of senior executive of oil and gas companies in connection with disputes relating to covenants not to compete, severance payments, incentive awards, and other benefits.
  • Representation of a school district in a lawsuit for injunctive relief brought by community members seeking to prevent the school district from demolishing a historic school.
  • Representation of a public entity in a lawsuit brought by members of the public seeking to prevent the entity from building public transportation in a busy area of Houston.

Representative Published Decisions

  • City of Houston v. Houston Prof'l Fire Fighters' Ass'n, Local 341, 664 S.W.3d 790 (Tex. 2023)
  • Massey v. DISA Glob. Sols., Inc., No. 01-21-00355-CV, 2022 WL 3970075, at *1 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] Sept. 1, 2022, no pet.)
  • Harris Cnty. v. Coats, 607 S.W.3d 359 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 2020, no pet.)
  • Hughes v. Giammanco, 579 S.W.3d 672 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 2019)
  • Meyers v. JDC/Firethorne, Ltd., 548 S.W.3d 477 (Tex. 2018)
  • Gonzalez v. Harris County, Tex., 601 F. App’x 255 (5th Cir. 2015)
  • Lennar Homes of Texas Sales and Marketing, Ltd. v. Perry Homes, LLC, 2015 WL 4633514 (S.D. Tex. July 24, 2015)
  • Boeing Co. v. Paxton, 466 S.W.3d 831 (Tex. 2015)
  • William T. Drennen III vs. Exxon Mobil Corp., 452 S.W.3d 319 (Tex. 2014)
  • Ezer v. Texas Tower Ltd., 2014 WL 3669222 (S.D. Tex. 2014)
  • Dernick Resources, Inc. v. Wilstein, 2014 WL 4088150 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 2014, no pet.)
  • Grynberg v. BP PLC, 527 F. App’x 278 (5th Cir. 2013)

Education
BA, Texas A&M University, with honors, 2004

Areas of Practice

  • Arbitration and Mediation
  • Commercial Litigation
  • Construction and Engineering Litigation
  • Energy and Environmental Litigation
  • Appeals
  • COVID-19 Litigation
  • Energy Litigation
  • First Amendment and Free Speech
  • Issues and Appeals
  • Litigation
  • Managed Care and ERISA
  • Managed Care Litigation

Professional Career



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