Katie Marquart

Katie Marquart is a partner in Gibson Dunn’s Los Angeles office and is the Firm’s Pro Bono Chair.  In this role, Ms. Marquart manages and coordinates the Firm’s pro bono efforts globally, which have totaled more than 1.5 million hours valued at more than $1 billion under her leadership.  She also maintains an active practice in areas including criminal justice, civil rights, constitutional law, and immigration.  Ms. Marquart began her career as a litigation associate at the Firm, where her practice focused on complex business litigation, transnational litigation, and internal investigations and regulatory inquiries.

Since taking the helm of Gibson Dunn’s pro bono practice in 2013, Ms. Marquart has played an integral role in many of the Firm’s most significant pro bono engagements.  In addition to personally representing clients in a variety of litigation matters—including lawsuits focused on civil rights, immigration, and the First Amendment—Ms. Marquart has spearheaded the Firm’s efforts to respond to some of the most pressing issues of the day.  In this role, she liaises with corporate clients and nonprofit community partners to collaborate on pro bono matters, including facilitating and overseeing numerous partnerships in the areas of criminal justice, racial justice, and immigration, among other sectors of public interest law.

Recent representative matters include:

• Abuse of Material Witness Statutes:  Representing a young woman who was wrongfully incarcerated under Louisiana’s material witness statute—despite being accused of no wrongdoing and agreeing to testify voluntarily regarding the crime she witnessed—in lawsuit arguing prosecutors violated her Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights.

• Justice for Women and Girls:  Launched a new initiative bringing together attorneys from across the Firm to advance justice and equity for women and girls through (1) educational equity; (2) access to healthcare; (3) legal and social equity; (4) economic empowerment; and (5) prevention of violence against women.

• Jones v. City of Los Angeles:  Co-lead counsel in Deon Jones v. City of Los Angeles (C.D. Cal.), a historic civil rights victory over an LAPD officer who shot Mr. Jones in the face while he was peacefully protesting in the aftermath of the George Floyd murder.  After a 7-day trial, a federal jury determined that the officer had violated Mr. Jones’ Fourth Amendment rights and awarded Mr. Jones $375,000 in compensatory and punitive damages.  The City of Los Angeles ultimately settled Mr. Jones’ civil rights claims for $860,000.

In 2024, Ms. Marquart received Human Rights First’s Marvin E. Frankel Award for Pro Bono Service, in recognition of her leadership in advocating for Afghan refugees in the United States.  Under Ms. Marquart’s leadership, Gibson Dunn is consistently recognized for its outstanding commitment to pro bono and significant pro bono victories.  Among other accolades, the Firm is a repeat recipient of the National Legal Aid & Defender Association Beacon of Justice Award and has received the 2023 Kids in Need of Defense Pro Bono Attorneys of the Year Award, the 2023 Sanctuary for Families Above & Beyond Pro Bono Achievement Award, the 2022 TrustLaw Powered by Pro Bono Award, the 2021 Giffords Law Center Pro Bono Partner Award, the 2021 Neighborhood Defender Service Corporate Social Responsibility Award, the 2020 Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs Outstanding Achievement Award, the 2019 Legal Aid Society Pro Bono Publico Award, the 2018 Who’s Who Legal Pro Bono Law Firm of the Year Award, the 2018 Capital Area Immigrants’ Rights Coalition Impacting Justice Award, the 2017 Public Counsel Law Firm Pro Bono Award, and the 2017 Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network Pro Bono Service Award.

In 2010, Ms. Marquart was honored with Gibson Dunn’s Frank Wheat Award for her pro bono work on behalf of children with autism living in the East Los Angeles area.  In that matter, she spearheaded a class action lawsuit that resulted in over 2,000 children diagnosed with autism getting their state-funded treatment programs reinstated on a permanent and ongoing basis, after those services had been wrongfully terminated.  Ms. Marquart also received Public Counsel Law Center’s Volunteer of the Year Award in connection with the same case.

Ms. Marquart is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia and the States of California and New York.

Capabilities

• ESG: Risk, Litigation, and Reporting
• Trials

Credentials

Education:

• Georgetown University - 2006 Juris Doctor
• University of California, Los Angeles - 2003 Bachelor of Arts

Admissions:

• California Bar
• District of Columbia Bar
• New York Bar