Debra Katz facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Debra Katz
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Debra S. Katz
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| Born | October 26, 1958 Woodmere, New York, U.S.
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| Education | Union College, New York (BA) University of Wisconsin, Madison (JD) |
| Occupation | Attorney |
| Known for | Founding partner of Katz Banks Kumin (formerly Katz, Marshall & Banks) |
| Spouse(s) | Nicole Berner |
| Children | 1 |
Debra S. Katz is an American civil rights and employment lawyer and a founding partner of Katz Banks Kumin (formerly Katz, Marshall & Banks) in Washington, D.C.. Katz's primary practice areas at her firm are employment and whistleblower law, where she represents victims of workplace discrimination and retaliation.
Early life and education
Katz was raised in Woodmere, New York as a Reform Jew. and graduated from George W. Hewlett High School. In 1980, she received a Bachelor of Arts degree (summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa) from Union College and in 1984, a J.D. cum laude from the University of Wisconsin Law School where she was a member of the Wisconsin Law Review and as Articles Editor of the Wisconsin Women's Law Journal. She ultimately left the Wisconsin Law Review and founded the Wisconsin Women's Law Journal because she believed the former lacked racial diversity.
In her first year of law school, she began to glimpse how sexism played a role in the legal profession when she noticed that her class discussions were predominately led by men. Upon confronting one of her professors about this issue, he immediately denied it and then later apologized to the class after noticing the behavior to be true.
Career
After law school, Katz clerked for Judge William A. Bablitch on the Wisconsin Supreme Court and held a Women's Law and Public Policy Fellowship at Georgetown University Law Center.
Affiliations
Katz is vice chair of the board of directors of the Project On Government Oversight. She has contributed articles to Ms. Magazine. Katz is also on the board of directors of Americans for Peace Now.
Honors and awards
In 2024, Katz was added to Lawdragon’s Hall of Fame, a list recognizing prominent lawyers previously named on Lawdragon's 500 Leading Lawyers in America list. In 2023, Katz also recognized as a trailblazer in Labor and Employment Law by the D.C. Bar, an honor bestowed to only six members of the D.C. Bar. She has also been included annually in Washingtonian Magazine’s list of Top Lawyers since 2004, and is recognized in its Top Lawyers Hall of Fame list.
In 2019, 2021, and 2023, Katz was named to the Washingtonian Magazine's list of "The Most Powerful Women in Washington, D.C."
Katz is a Fellow at The College of Labor and Employment Lawyers, a Member of the International Women's Forum, and a Fellow of the American Bar Association. Katz was named the “Civil Rights Lawyer of the Year” for Washington by The Best Lawyers In America for 2018, a pioneering #MeToo attorney by the Washington Post and Washingtonian Magazine, and was listed as one of Forward's 50 American Jews who have had a profound impact in 2018.
Katz was honored as a 2018 Lawyer of the Year by the Metropolitan Washington Lawyers Association along with her colleague, Lisa Banks. The award is presented annually to one or more Washington, DC attorneys who have achieved great accomplishments, and whose work embodies the mission of the association.
Katz's work also won her recognition as a Law360 2019 “Titan of the Plaintiffs Bar” – an annual award bestowed upon ten influential plaintiff-side attorneys who had a significant impact in the past year inside and outside the courtroom.
T’ruah, an organization of rabbis and cantors with the mission of advancing human rights around the world, honored Katz with the Raphael Lemkin Human Rights Award during its “Celebration of Human Rights” event.
Personal life
Katz has one son, Ari Katz. She is married to Nicole Berner, a federal appeals court judge for the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.
