Katherine Padgett’s practice focuses on a variety of international trade matters, including CFIUS reviews, export controls, economic sanctions, national security and litigation strategy in international investment and arbitration.

Prior to joining Akin Gump, Katherine successfully served for nine years in the Office of the Legal Adviser (L) at the U.S. Department of State, including as the department’s lead CFIUS lawyer and principal lawyer on international investment matters. Additionally, Katherine represented the State Department in interagency policy-making processes and worked closely with senior officials at the NSC, USTR, the departments of Justice, Defense, Treasury, Commerce and Homeland Security, and other federal agencies.

Katherine was instrumental in advising State Department principals on CFIUS national security reviews of transactions, mitigation agreements, litigation strategy and congressional inquiries. She advised policy clients, including officials in the State Department’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, on compliance issues under the Arms Export Control Act and the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), including in connection with foreign military sales and export licenses for direct commercial sales. Additionally, Katherine led legal reviews of matters related to counterterrorism, security assistance and foreign military cooperation in coordination with senior Pentagon officials and the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA).

Katherine represented the State Department in negotiations regarding information sharing and counterterrorism agreements with foreign law enforcement. She counseled State Department officials on compliance with material support and terrorist financing laws; economic sanctions considerations, including the Specially Designated Nationals And Blocked Persons List (SDN) list and the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) licenses; and end-use monitoring and re-transfer requirements for defense articles and services. Additionally, Katherine provided guidance on international aviation security matters, including U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) preclearance, federal air marshal operations and Transportation Security Administration (TSA) technical cooperation.

As the State Department’s principal lawyer on international investment matters, Katherine advised on U.S. government litigating positions in investment arbitrations under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) and other bilateral investment treaties before the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) and the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) tribunals. She provided legal guidance on a range of foreign investment and trade matters, including matters related to U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) financing and political risk insurance, the Export-Import Bank, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rulemaking under Dodd-Frank regarding extractives industry transparency and conflict minerals, and the issuance of investment and other business-related visas. As primary agency counsel, Katherine successfully litigated cases involving the State Department concerning the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA), recognition and enforcement of arbitral awards under the New York Convention, and enforcement of extraterritorial discovery requests.

Katherine led State Department crisis management efforts, including advising on engagement with Congress and the media, and provided guidance on Office of Inspector General (OIG) investigations and U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) audits. Katherine advised on the State Department’s implementation of approximately $7 billion in annual military and peacekeeping operations assistance funding, including Foreign Military Financing (FMF), International Military Education and Training (IMET), and conventional weapons destruction activities.

Before obtaining her law degree, Katherine served as a research associate for a Washington, D.C. consulting firm, where she researched U.S. and international regulatory and political issues for multinational clients.

Katherine was a judicial law clerk for the Hon. Stefan R. Underhill of the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut and the Hon. Peter W. Hall of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2^nd Circuit.