Catherine C. Smith

Catherine Smith is a partner in the firm's Labor, Employment, and Workplace Safety practice. She counsels employers regarding a broad range of employment issues including employee terminations and performance management, disability accommodation, leaves of absence, employee onboarding, employee transfers, and wage and hour compliance. She works with companies of all sizes and stages, from startup companies to multinational corporations, in industries including agribusiness, aquaculture, timber, technology, software, telecommunications, manufacturing, retail, and hospitality. 

As a member of both the California and Washington bars, Catherine has significant experience advising national employers with operations in California, Washington, and throughout the United States.

Catherine regularly assists clients with employment matters related to buy-side and sell-side mergers and acquisitions and corporate investment transactions, for emerging, middle market, and Fortune 500 companies. She assists with all aspects of such transactions including employment due diligence, employee transition issues, purchase agreements, and drafting and negotiating restrictive covenant and employment agreements.  

Catherine leads K&L Gates’ Reduction in Force working group. She has significant experience counseling clients regarding all aspects of reductions in force and voluntary separation and retirement programs. She works with clients to develop strategies to mitigate risk, including developing employee selection processes and reduction in force policies and termination procedures, WARN and disparate impact analysis, WARN notices and other employee communications, compliance with the Older Workers Benefit Protection Act, and separation agreements. Catherine also works with K&L Gates partners outside of the US to assist clients with multinational redundancies.

She regularly drafts and updates a variety of employment-related documents including employment policies and handbooks, offer letters and employment agreements, secondment agreements, incentive compensation and commission agreements, non-compete, invention assignment and non-disclosure agreements, severance agreements, staffing agency agreements, and independent contractor agreements.

Catherine has advised agribusiness clients regarding a variety of employment-related issues and assisted with drafting farm labor contractor agreements, farm and vineyard management agreements, arbitration agreements, employment agreements and service provider agreements.