Catherine Wood focuses her practice on the resolution of commercial contract disputes. She represents clients, whether as plaintiffs or defendants, in federal and state court litigation, arbitration or mediation in their disputes with contracting parties, competitors, employees and suppliers, which frequently involve breach of contract, fraud and tortious interference claims. She also assists clients in assessing and minimizing litigation risks and negotiates on her clients' behalf to quickly resolve disputes without litigation. In addition, Ms. Wood devotes a substantial part of her practice to catastrophic tort cases, including defending manufacturers in products liability cases alleging failure to warn and design defect claims. She has successfully represented company officers and directors and publicly traded and privately held companies in various industries and economic sectors, including the biomedical, health care, insurance, private equity, hedge fund, banking, real estate, software, online, manufacturing and hospitality industries.
A representative sampling of Ms. Wood's experience includes the following:
- Defended a leading fencing manufacturer and its officers in a Maryland federal court lawsuit brought by a business competitor alleging breach of non-compete, tortious interference with contractual relations and unfair competition claims.
- Represented a large biomedical company in pursuing a lawsuit in California state court against a distributor and business competitor for misappropriation of trade secrets and tortious interference with exclusive licenses.
- Represented a Spanish solar cell manufacturer in filing and litigating claims against a U.S. distributor in Arizona federal court for breach of a commission agreement.
- Defended directors of a for-profit higher education provider in a shareholder class action in Maryland state court for breach of fiduciary duty in connection with the company's announcement of a merger.
- Defended directors of an internet company in a shareholder class action in Virginia federal court alleging securities fraud in connection with the company's initial public offering.
- Defended an investment management company and its officers and directors in a securities fraud lawsuit in Ohio federal court arising from the loss of a pension fund investment.
- Represented a foreign bank in arbitration against another foreign bank for breach of letters of credit.
- Represented a seller of an aircraft in a dispute involving breach of the purchase agreement.
- Defended a large hotel management company in a high-exposure premises liability case in Virginia federal court.
- Defended an industrial fan manufacturer in a products liability case in Michigan state court involving claims of failure to warn, design defects and breach of express and implied warranties.
- Defended a large manufacturer of gas and electric ranges in a products liability case in New York state court arising from a fatal gas explosion which asserted claims of failure to warn and design defect.
- Conducted an internal investigation of certain accounting irregularities at a privately held software company.
- Co-counseled with the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights in submitting an amicus curiae brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in Ricci, et al. v. DeStefano, et al. (Nos. 07-1428-08-328).
Ms. Wood earned a Bachelor of Arts, with high distinction, from George Mason University in 1994 and a Juris Doctor,
cum laude, from American University Washington College of Law in 1997. In law school, she was an editor for the
American University International Law Review (formerly known as the
American University Journal of International Law and Policy) and published an article on the E-2 Visa. After law school, Ms. Wood served as a motions law clerk with the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
Ms. Wood serves on the firm's Committee on Racial and Ethnic Diversity. She is a member of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association and is conversant in Mandarin Chinese. She is the Hiring Partner of the firm's Washington office.