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Profile Picture

Katherine V.A. Smith

Katherine
Smith

Partner

CONTACT INFO

ksmith@gibsondunn.com

TEL:+1 213.229.7107

FAX:+1 213.229.6107

Los Angeles

333 South Grand Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90071-3197 USA

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PRACTICE

Labor and Employment Artificial Intelligence and Automated Systems Class Actions Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Litigation Media, Entertainment and Technology

BIOGRAPHY

Katherine Smith is a partner in the Los Angeles office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher.  Ms. Smith serves as Co-Chair of the firm’s Labor and Employment Practice Group.

Ms. Smith has extensive experience representing employers in individual, representative and class action litigation at both the trial court and appellate level.  Her practice focuses on high stakes litigation matters such as large-scale class actions, actions brought under the California PAGA, whistleblower retaliation cases, and executive disputes.  She also advises employers on government investigations, enforcement of non-solicitation and non-competition covenants, reductions in force and reorganizations, independent contractor/employee status, C-suite on-boarding and separations, and other employment-related issues.  She has also been involved in multiple independent investigations of high profile #metoo complaints alleging systemic sexual harassment and gender discrimination.

Chambers USA ranked Ms. Smith as a top California attorney for her work in Labor and Employment in their 2022 publication.  In 2019, Ms. Smith was ranked as a “Next Generation Lawyer” for labor and employment law by Legal 500.  The honor recognizes “up-and-coming” partners who have demonstrated significant expertise handling challenging employment matters for clients.  In 2019, she was also named a “Rising Star” by Law360.  The list recognizes “attorneys under 40 whose legal accomplishments transcend their age.”  Ms. Smith was also acknowledged as a “Labor & Employment Star” in Benchmark Litigation’s 2019 publication, as well as being named as an “American Rising Star” by Euromoney Legal Media Group in labor and employment.

Ms. Smith’s representative litigation matters include defending several employers in numerous putative wage and hour class and PAGA actions, including cases alleging misclassification of workers, failure to pay overtime, failure to provide meal and rest breaks, failure to provide accurate wage statements, and failure to reimburse business expenses; representing a major entertainment company in multiple forums in its actions against former employees for improper solicitation of employees and misappropriation of the company’s confidential information; and defending a major studio in a suit brought by the loan-out company for a television producer, alleging that he was owed net profits under the terms of his agreements with the studio.

In addition to litigation, Ms. Smith also dedicates a significant portion of her practice to advising employers with respect to employment-related issues.  She has managed company-wide wage and hour compliance audits, involving hundreds of job positions and all aspects of wage and hour compliance.  And she has negotiated and drafted numerous severance and separation agreements for executives, including several CEOs.

Ms. Smith has represented clients in the entertainment, media, retail, restaurant, accounting, insurance, transportation, and tech industries, among others.

Ms. Smith earned her law degree in 2006 from the University of Virginia, where she was a member of the editorial board for the Virginia Law Review.  She graduated cum laude from Duke University in 2003, with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science.  She is admitted to practice in the State of California.  Ms. Smith is also a member of the bar in the Seventh and Ninth Circuit Courts of Appeals, as well as numerous district courts.  Ms. Smith also serves on the Firm’s Associate Compensation, Pro Bono, and Diversity Committees, as well as on the Executive Board and Board of Governors of the Boys & Girls’ Club of Santa Monica and the Board of the Women in Law Empowerment Forum (Southern California).

EDUCATION

University of Virginia - 2006 Juris Doctor

Duke University - 2003 Bachelor of Arts

ADMISSIONS

California Bar

RECENT PUBLICATIONS

Firm News - June 29, 2022 | Jesse Cripps, Michele Maryott and Katherine Smith Named Among California’s Top Employment Lawyers for 2022
Firm News - June 22, 2022 | Gibson Dunn Ranked in 2022 U.S. Legal 500
Client Alert - February 11, 2022 | Congress Implements Restrictions on Employment Agreements That Require Arbitration of Sexual Assault or Harassment Claims
Client Alert - January 28, 2022 | California Supreme Court Adopts New Standard for Whistleblower Retaliation Claims
Client Alert - January 13, 2022 | Supreme Court Stays OSHA Vaccine-Or-Testing Mandate
Firm News - November 15, 2021 | Fourteen Gibson Dunn Partners Named Top Employment Lawyers
Client Alert - November 5, 2021 | OSHA Issues Vaccination and Testing Emergency Temporary Standard for Larger Employers
Client Alert - November 3, 2021 | New York Expands Whistleblower Law
Client Alert - October 26, 2021 | EEOC Expands Guidance on Religious Exemptions to Vaccine Mandates Under Title VII
Client Alert - September 26, 2021 | White House Task Force Announces New COVID Safety Protocols for Federal Contractors
Client Alert - September 15, 2021 | California Court of Appeal Confirms That Trial Courts Have the Authority to Strike PAGA Claims That Are Unmanageable
Client Alert - September 10, 2021 | President Biden Announces COVID-19 Vaccine Mandates, with Legal Challenges Likely to Follow
Client Alert - July 16, 2021 | California Supreme Court Announces New Formula for Calculating Premium Payments for Failures to Provide Meal Periods or Rest Breaks
Client Alert - July 9, 2021 | President Signs Executive Order Directing Agencies to Address Wide Range of Businesses’ Competitive Practices, Including Non-Compete Agreements
Client Alert - February 11, 2021 | 2020 Year-End ERISA Disputes Update
Client Alert - January 12, 2021 | 2020 Year-End California Labor and Employment Update
Firm News - December 11, 2020 | Eleven Gibson Dunn Partners Named Top Employment Lawyers
Client Alert - October 1, 2020 | Executive Order on Combating Race and Sex Stereotyping
Firm News - July 6, 2020 | Gibson Dunn Ranked in 2020 U.S. Legal 500
Webcasts - April 30, 2020 | Webcast: Returning to Work: Health, Employment, and Privacy Considerations and Constraints as Businesses Resume Post-Quarantine Operations in the U.S.
Client Alert - April 6, 2020 | Important Considerations in Implementing Workforce Furloughs
Firm News - September 13, 2019 | Stacie Fletcher and Katherine Smith Named Among Americas Rising Stars
Firm News - September 9, 2019 | Law360 Names Seven Gibson Dunn Lawyers as 2019 Rising Stars
Firm News - July 11, 2019 | Gibson Dunn Ranked in 2019 U.S. Legal 500
Firm News - May 31, 2019 | Gibson Dunn Named Winner in Two Categories for D.C. Litigation Department of the Year
Publications - November 26, 2018 | California Court of Appeal Decision Creates Uncertainty Regarding the Continued Enforceability of Employee Non-Solicitation Provisions
Pro Bono - October 19, 2018 | Gibson Dunn Tackles Family Separation at the Border
Client Alert - October 5, 2018 | What Employers Need to Know About California’s New #MeToo Laws
Client Alert - July 6, 2018 | Update on California Immigrant Worker Protection Act (AB 450)
Firm News - June 18, 2018 | Gibson Dunn Ranked in 2018 U.S. Legal 500
Client Alert - May 2, 2018 | The Latest Legislative Responses to #Metoo: New Requirements for Sexual Harassment Training, Arbitration and Settlement Agreements in New York and Evolving Legislation in Other States
Article - September 1, 2016 | Guidelines for Managing a Forensic Inspection of ESI
Article - October 21, 2015 | Summary Judgment Strategies In Class, Collective Actions
Client Alert - April 1, 2013 | Scope of Employment
Client Alert - December 27, 2012 | New Requirements for Commission-Based Employees Who Provide Services in California
Client Alert - September 20, 2012 | California Court of Appeal Decision Highlights Importance of Tying Non-Competes to Sale of Business
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