Katherine Peaslee

Katy Peaslee represents plaintiffs and defendants in litigation in state and federal courts across the nation. She has worked on cases covering many complex practice areas, including breach of contract, intellectual property, antitrust, defamation, labor and employment, and environmental litigation.

Katy has secured landmark deals and decisions for her clients in high stakes matters, regularly playing a pivotal role in each of the cases she takes on.

Litigation HIGHLIGHTS

Katy was part of a team from Susman Godfrey that secured a historic $787.5 million settlement on behalf of Dominion Voting Systems in its defamation litigation against Fox News and Fox Corporation. Katy was named a Media & Entertainment Rising Star by Law360 for her work on this and related matters brought on behalf of Dominion against Sidney Powell, Rudy Giuliani, and Mike Lindell. In the matter against Fox, Katy led discovery efforts and co-drafted Dominion’s motion for summary judgement, which garnered widespread media attention.

In a high stakes patent litigation on behalf of online real estate valuation company, Zillow, Katy briefed, argued, and won an appeal for Zillow, defending the dismissal her team secured at the District Court level before the Federal Circuit.

Katy helped secure a $600 million+ dollar settlement with the state of Michigan and City of Flint on behalf residents of Flint who are pursuing claims for personal injuries and property damage arising from the lead contamination water crisis. Katy coordinated all aspects of discovery on behalf of plaintiffs and handled key depositions, drafted and argued motions, and coordinated plaintiffs’ 16 testifying experts. Public Justice named Katy, along with other members of her team, a Finalist for Trial Attorney of the Year in 2022 based on their work on this massive action. Read more about the governmental settlement in Law360’s coverage here (subscription required).

Katy scored a victory before the Ninth Circuit in DaVita v. Amy’s Kitchen, a labor lawsuit where she defended Amy’s Kitchen against claims of alleged violations of the Medicare Secondary Payer Act and ERISA. The Court of Appeals affirmed District Judge Jon Tigar’s grant of Amy’s Kitchen’s motion to dismiss in its entirety with prejudice. Katy co-argued the motion before the District Court and took a leading role drafting the brief on appeal. Read more about the case here (subscription required).

Katy is part of a group of attorneys that represents women’s healthcare provider Dr. Alan Braid pro bono in litigation involving suits filed against him by three different plaintiffs under Texas’s abortion ban. Katy is also part of a team of attorneys from Susman Godfrey representing Seattle’s Community Police Commission in connection with the consent decree entered into between the U.S. Department of Justice and the City of Seattle regarding police use of force.

Background

Katy joined Susman Godfrey after clerking for Judge Katherine Polk Failla on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York and Judge Milan Smith on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.  She graduated with high honors from the University of Chicago Law School, where she served as an Articles Editor for The University of Chicago Law Review. She received her undergraduate degree with distinction from Stanford University.

Honors & Distinctions

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Education

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