Hogan & Hartson
cestetson@hhlaw.com

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Catherine E. Stetson
Partner, Washington, D.C.

Cate Stetson has been recognized as one of the "Fab Fifty" up-and-coming litigators in the nation by The American Lawyer magazine and was named by Washingtonian magazine as one of the city's "Top 40 Lawyers Under 40." She concentrates her practice on appellate and U.S. Supreme Court litigation. Cate has argued in the Supreme Court and in many federal circuit courts of appeals, handled dozens of appeals in federal and state appellate courts, and been actively involved in many matters before the Supreme Court at the certiorari and merits stages. Her experience spans appeals presenting questions of administrative law and procedure in multiple regulatory contexts, antitrust law, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), class certification, constitutional law, contract law, employment law, energy, environmental, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), food and drug, telecommunications, tort, and patent law.

Before joining Hogan & Hartson, Cate served as a judicial clerk to The Honorable Stanley S. Harris of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and The Honorable David S. Tatel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

Representative Experience
Briefed and argued a merits case in the U.S. Supreme Court on a complex procedural issue for a major firm client.

Successfully defended against a petition for certiorari brought by the United States solicitor general in a multibillion-dollar Medicare matter.

Handled on behalf of a computer software and services company a complex Federal Circuit patent infringement appeal involving microprocessor parallel processing architecture.

Briefed, argued, and won a major appeal in the Maryland state courts for a national insurance company.

Handled a successful appeal in the Eleventh Circuit defending a managed care company against ERISA claims brought by a state attorney general.

Handled a successful appeal in the D.C Circuit involving the treatment of remedies for a pipeline's Natural Gas Act violations.

Represented a laboratory company in a Federal Circuit patent infringement appeal involving the question whether a diagnostic test for a particular chemical imbalance described anything beyond an unpatentable natural correlation. The Supreme Court granted certiorari to consider the case. 

Represented an energy company in a successful D.C. Circuit challenge to an agency's decision placing onerous conditions on a proposed merger.

Handled a successful appeal in the D.C. Circuit on behalf of a national trade association challenging an agency's authority to issue certain historic-preservation regulations.

On behalf of two national business entities, argued an appeal in the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals challenging an agency denial of a petition under the Information Quality Act as a violation of the Administrative Procedure Act.

Argued on behalf of a water filtration company a patent infringement appeal involving a doctrine-of-equivalents issue.

Handled a Second Circuit appeal on behalf of a pharmaceutical company sued by a consumer for allegedly negligently permitting counterfeit versions of its products to enter the prescription drug market.

On behalf of several national corporations and federations of business entities, filed amicus briefs in the Supreme Court on multiple matters including federal preemption, patent, antitrust, and employment law.

Handled, on behalf of a national nonprofit association, a successful appeal in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit challenging agency regulations that failed to comport with the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act.

Hogan & Hartson Publications
07.20.2007 "Supreme Court Rules on Obviousness Standard for Determining Patentability." IP Update, Hogan & Hartson LLP

05.09.2007 "Energy Review, Volume 1 No. 3." Energy Update, Hogan & Hartson LLP

04.17.2007 "Supreme Court Clarifies Bar to Whistleblower Suits Under the False Claims Act." U.S. Supreme Court and Appellate Update, Hogan & Hartson LLP

04.06.2007 "Supreme Court Decides Global Warming Case." Focus On: Climate and Clean Energy, Hogan & Hartson LLP

PRACTICES/INDUSTRIES
Litigation
Appellate and Supreme Court
IP Litigation
AREAS OF FOCUS
  • Supreme Court Litigation
  • Appellate Litigation
  • Patent Appeals
  • Constitutional Law
  • Energy
  • Insurance
EDUCATION
J.D., Order of the Coif, University of Virginia School of Law, 1994 B.A., cum laude, Duke University, 1991
MEMBERSHIPS
  • Member, American Bar Association
  • Member, The Women's Bar Association of the District of Columbia
  • Member, Edward Coke Appellate Inn of Court
  • Member, The Barristers
  • Member, National Chamber Litigation Center Constitutional and Administrative Law Advisory Committee
AWARDS/RANKINGS
  • The Best Lawyers in America, 2009
  • Washington, D.C. Super Lawyers, Appellate, 2008
  • The American Lawyer, "Fab Fifty" Litigator, 2007
  • Legal 500 US, Appellate and Supreme Court Litigation, 2007
  • Washingtonian, Top 40 Under 40, 2006
BAR ADMISSIONS District of Columbia Virginia
COURT ADMISSIONS U.S. Supreme Court U.S. Court of Appeals, Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit Supreme Court of Virginia District of Columbia Court of Appeals