Back to People

Katharine P. Lennox Associate

Save current page as PDF
Chicago T +1 312 849 8117 F fax +1 312 698 4517
New York
vCard

Born in Toronto; educated in Canada, the United States and Belgium; and licensed in New York and Chicago, Katie brings a unique and creative perspective to solving her clients’ labor and employment needs.

Katie counsels and represents a variety of businesses, from Fortune 500 companies to startups, in a wide array of industries. Employers seek Katie out when looking to mitigate against or litigate discrimination, harassment, retaliation, biometrics and other privacy matters, employment acquisition matters, or wage and hour, and restrictive covenant issues. Katie has experience with state and federal agencies and courts across the country, including the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, and she leverages this experience to generate results for her clients.

Since 2020, Katie has been named as one of the Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch in the Labor and Employment practice area.

In her pro bono work, Katie focuses on immigration and torture cases. She represented a client fleeing sexual orientation-related persecution in their native country and assisted them in successfully obtaining asylum and starting their career as a healthcare worker in the United States.  In recognition of her commitment to pro bono work, Katie received McGuireWoods’ pro bono award in 2020.

Katie received her LL.M. with highest honors from the University of Kent at Brussels and her J.D. magna cum laude from Loyola University Chicago School of Law, where she was Editor-in-Chief of the International Law Review and a Vis Commercial Arbitration Moot Court Fellow. During law school, Katie served as a judicial extern for the Honorable Ann C. Williams of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.

Experience

  • Successfully secured interlocutory appeal of class certification decision in a discrimination and harassment case, defeating a motion to dismiss the appeal and later winning the appeal, which reduced the potential recovery to a quarter of the original class size.
  • Successfully moved to compel arbitration of class and collective wage and hour claims on behalf of international financial services firm that was a third-party beneficiary to an employer’s arbitration agreement.
  • Defeated motion to dismiss brought by a primary competitor related to restricted covenant claim and obtained favorable settlement on behalf of Fortune 500 client as a result of the same.
  • Obtained dismissal of, or summary judgment on, numerous employees’ discrimination, harassment and/or retaliation claims against their former and alleged employers.
  • Defeated motion for temporary restraining order related to COVID-19 vaccination mandate for healthcare client in the Central District of Illinois.
  • Defeated motion to quash a critical subpoena for plaintiff’s mental health records in California state court, which led to a favorable settlement for Fortune 500 client.
  • Vetted the employment practices of a wide array of businesses operating in a variety of states for purposes of client acquisitions.
  • Drafted and counseled numerous clients on the executive and physician employment agreements for employees nationwide.
  • Assisted international clients to establish U.S. presence and employment practices.
  • Counseled numerous clients on the on-going COVID-19 legal landscape, including providing weekly national updates and drafting summary guidance related to Cal-OSHA’s Emergency Temporary Standard.
  • Advised Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce and Illinois Legislature on proposed legislative amendments to Illinois’ Biometric Information Privacy Act statute.