Cathleen Donohoe is a member of the firm’s Litigation section. She focuses her practice on corporate investigations, complex commercial litigation, and cybersecurity.
Cathleen is a seasoned professional with nearly two decades of experience advising clients in Silicon Valley on a wide range of litigation and investigatory matters. She is a strategic thinker with a proven ability to distill complex matters into simple, understandable concepts for legal and non-legal personnel. Cathleen is a trusted leader, with an excellent ability to work closely with clients and colleagues to arrive at cost-effective solutions that meet legal and business objectives. Cathleen has a unique understanding of the inner workings of manufacturing organizations as the result of more than five years of experience working in procurement for vehicle manufacturers Ford Motor Company and Mercedes-Benz.
Representative Experience
- Successfully conducted and resolved numerous internal investigations for company boards of directors and committees involving alleged embezzlement, accounting fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, breach of contract, and IP misappropriation.
- Drafted winning motions and negotiated successful resolutions of several multi-million-dollar complex commercial litigation matters involving breach of contract, theft of intellectual property, fraud, business tort claims, and data privacy issues.
- Led internal investigation uncovering board member embezzlement of more than $1 million. Assisted FBI and U.S. Attorney in gathering incriminating evidence, leading to the criminal conviction and imprisonment of embezzler.
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- Corporate Investigations
- Designed and conducted internal investigation concerning accounting treatment of future pension obligations for multibillion-dollar public pension plan and presented findings and recommendations to pension board.
- Senior associate on team that successfully conducted and resolved white collar accounting fraud internal investigation involving executives and employees in multiple countries.
- Conducted global investigations into the sale of counterfeit and infringing goods for jewelry design client; identified and located foreign infringers, issued demand letters and negotiated resolution of disputes.
- Led successful trade secret theft investigation for medical device manufacturer; working closely with computer forensic investigators to obtain key evidence from overseas entities.
- Cybersecurity, Data Protection & Privacy
- Represented leading data breach forensic investigation client in responding to a variety of civil subpoenas and government investigative demands relating to data breach investigations, including the negotiation of discovery scope, and defending of witness depositions.
- Advised online service provider regarding data privacy regulatory compliance and risk management, revising customer and website user agreements to comply with U.S. privacy regulations.
- Successfully managed theft of IP matter, including the management of global eDiscovery in compliance with data privacy regulations in the transfer of personal data from EU countries to servers located in the U.S.
- Securities Litigation & Enforcement
- Key member of the team that successfully defended and settled multi-district securities class actions attempting to enjoin the $2 billion merger between CyberSource and Visa U.S.A., enabling the merger to close on schedule.
- Lead associate on $10 million securities class action for publicly-held silicon manufacturer, obtaining dismissal on motion in the district court and prevailing on appeal in the Ninth Circuit.
- Successfully resolved stock option backdating securities litigation matters and related SEC inquiries for technology clients.
- Litigation & Dispute Resolution
- Senior associate in the successful resolution of multimillion-dollar Intellectual Property dispute concerning a complex computer system design and development project involving large volumes of electronic data located on overseas servers.
- Successfully defended multimillion-dollar company ownership dispute; drafted pleadings and managed motion practice and complex electronic discovery process, resulting in a complete defense verdict following bench trial.
- Drafted Ninth Circuit appellate briefs and district court motions on behalf of plaintiff Indian tribe in pursuit of $50 million federal embezzlement and racketeering civil litigation against tribal insiders.
Professional Highlights
- Publications
- Co-author, Two Simple Ways to Maximize Privilege and Work Product Protections in Data Breach Investigations, FireEye Executive Perspectives blog, May 2, 2019.
- Co-author, “Newman Not an Ideal Case for Defining Tippee Liability,” Law360, August 7, 2015.
- Co-author, “Avoiding FCPA Risk in Dealing with Agents, Consultants and Other Third Parties,” The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act 2009, Practising Law Institute, April 2009.
- Speaking Engagements
- Panelist, “Computer Forensics for IP Lawyers,” Intellectual Property Owners Association, June 2019.
- Lecturer, “The Use of Special Economic Zones to Attract Foreign Direct Investment,” seminar for law post-graduate students, University of Pretoria, South Africa, October 2013.
Education
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J.D., Stanford Law School, 2003
with DistinctionM.B.A., Tulane University, 1992
Beta Gamma SigmaB.A., Economics, University of California, Santa Barbara, 1990
summa cum laude
Admissions
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California
Courts
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U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California
U.S. District Court for the Central District of California
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California