Fenwick’s Katherine Duncan Talks About the Mindset Shift That Comes With Being a Partner

Fenwick corporate partner Katherine (Kat) Duncan was featured in Law.com talking about her journey to becoming partner in January this year, sharing her advice and insights for associates and new attorneys, and describing the mindset shift that’s come with her new role.

As a corporate attorney, Kat advises clients across a range of technology sectors and she spoke about how it’s served her to align her practice with her personal interests in gaming.

“When I was a more junior lawyer, I was excited about videogaming and wanted to work with gaming clients. There were a lot of people who told me not to specialize by industry, and that made me question myself,” she told Law.com. “In the end, it wasn’t true, and eventually I found partners who believed in the direction I wanted to take and helped me develop the path I wanted to follow. My specialization has served me and my gaming clients very well.”

Relationships and mentoring are one of the highlights of her role: “One of the coolest parts is working with associates who are really smart and good at their job and helping them level up. These are some of the most satisfying relationships you form, and I’m fortunate that I get to spend my time with interesting and smart people every day.”

Kat also described the mindset shift that comes with being partner: “Once you hit partner, you are no longer artificially capped. My horizon is now the rest of my career, and it’s a greenfield to make it into whatever I want.”

Kat advises emerging and high-growth companies on a wide variety of issues, including corporate governance, financings, equity and employment issues and licensing and commercial matters. She also represents late-stage private and public companies, as well as underwriters in public offerings, and counsels public companies on corporate governance, securities and compliance issues.

The full article is available on Law.com (subscription required).

Fenwick actively recruits professionals from diverse backgrounds and invests in their long-term success. We believe that a diverse workforce helps us serve our clients better and fosters an environment of cooperation, respect, creativity and mutual understanding in which everyone thrives.