--- title: "Kathryn Cherry" description: "Partner Kathryn Cherry, a former Supreme Court clerk, guides clients through complex federal and state legal challenges with strategic clarity." source_url: "https://www.stonehilton.com/team/kathryn-cherry" canonical_path: "/team/kathryn-cherry" content_type: "team-member" --- # Kathryn Cherry Role: Partner After spending nearly a decade as an intelligence analyst defending the nation from threats beyond its borders, Kathryn took on a second challenge as an attorney defending the rights of those within them. Kathryn, a former U.S. Supreme Court clerk and current civil litigator and appellate advocate, has handled cases in state and federal courts across the country, within both the public and private sectors. Drawing on her experiences from her first career, Kathryn brings creative, inciteful, and strategic approaches to each case. ## Creative, Insightful, Strategic A proven appellate advocate and civil litigator, Kathryn has not simply won cases but significantly changed both federal and state law by convincing courts to break new ground for her clients. Prior to joining Stone Hilton, she practiced law at an Am Law 100 firm in both New York and Dallas, representing Fortune 500 companies against shareholder suits, tort claims, class certification, False Claims Act suits, ERISA claims, and regulatory proceedings by state and federal agencies. Kathryn also spent time in the public sector as an Assistant U.S. Attorney and as an Assistant Solicitor General in the Texas Attorney General’s Office, where she established new precedent favoring government agencies before Texas’s highest court. By seeing possibilities where others see only roadblocks, Kathryn has made legal breakthroughs for her private and public clients. In recognition for her expertise and insight, Kathryn was invited to present on the 2023 Supreme Court term at the University of Texas's 34th Annual Conference on State and Federal Appeals. Before embarking on her legal career, Kathryn served as an intelligence analyst with the U.S. Department of Defense (a job she acquired while in high school). After attending Yale Law School, she clerked for then-Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh on the D.C. Circuit and Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr. on the U.S. Supreme Court. ## Representative Matters ### Texas State University v. Tanner No. 22-0291, Tex. May 3, 2024 Successfully briefed, argued, and won a landmark decision before the Texas Supreme Court establishing requirements for suits against government agencies. ### M.D. v. Abbott No. 24-40248, 5th Cir. 2024 Successfully briefed an appeal resulting in the Fifth Circuit's reversal of a $100,000-a-day fine and contempt order issued against a Texas agency and the forced recusal of the trial judge overseeing the case. ### Van Overdam v. Texas A&M University No. 21-20185, 5th Cir. 2022 Successfully argued for Texas A&M University in an appeal before the Fifth Circuit in a highly charged suit concerning student-on-student assaults. ### Bearchild v. Cobban No. 17-35616, 9th Cir. 2020 Successfully briefed, argued, and won a suit representing a pro se incarcerated person, overturning the dismissal of his case and establishing a new legal requirement concerning the standard of proof for assault cases. ### Alta Power, LLC v. General Electric International, Inc. No. 3:23-cv-0270, N.D. Tex. Won summary judgment in a case involving a laundry list of state tort claims against the defendant. ### United States of America ex rel. Todd Heath v. Wisconsin Bell, Inc. No. 2:08-cv-876, E.D. Wisc. Won summary judgment in a long-running False Claims Act suit. ## Outside the Office Kathryn is a recent transport from Dallas but is slowly being won over by the food carts in her neighborhood. She also coaches elementary school and middle school girls with the organization Girls on the Run, which not only promotes physical fitness, but overcoming difficulties and setting individualized goals. Aside from coaching, her other loves are tennis and snowboarding. ## Experience ### Of Counsel Vault 10 law firm ### Assistant Solicitor General Office of the Attorney General of Texas ### Assistant United States Attorney Office of the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Texas ### Intelligence Analyst National Security Agency, Department of Defense ### Law Clerk to Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr. U.S. Supreme Court ### Law Clerk to then-Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ## Education ### J.D.; Executive Editor for Articles, The Yale Law Journal; Student Director, Supreme Court Advocacy Clinic Yale Law School ### B.A., Anthropology Columbia University ## Admissions - All courts of the State of Texas - All courts of the State of New York - United States Supreme Court - U.S. Courts of Appeal for the First, Fourth, Fifth, Ninth, & Federal Circuits - U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas ## Memberships - State Bar of Texas - Austin Black Lawyers Association - Dallas Women's Bar Association - Travis County Women Lawyers' Association - Girls on the Run