Katherine Barrett Wiik is member of Robins Kaplan LLP. Guided by a dedication to excellence and equality, Katherine Barrett Wiik focuses her practice on appellate strategy and advocacy. Katie has served as the primary author of dozens of appellate briefs to state and federal appeals courts and the Board of Immigration Appeals. Katie has also argued numerous appeals.
She has argued before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, the Minnesota Court of Appeals, and the Minnesota Supreme Court. Her appellate experience covers a diverse range of issues, including antitrust standing and jurisdiction, state and federal pleading and claims sufficiency, and civil rights protection.
Her successes on behalf of individual, institutional, and corporate clients demonstrate her unyielding commitment to justice, rigor, and the exacting demands of appellate representation.
In addition to her appellate practice, Katie has extensive experience litigating on behalf of both plaintiffs and defendants. She has handled diverse litigation matters, including financial litigation cases, breach of contract and employment disputes, and unfair competition and business practices claims. She has also participated as part of the trial team for two mass tort pharmaceutical cases.
Deeply committed to providing pro bono legal services, Katie has also handled numerous civil rights cases, including pro bono appeals in state and federal courts. She has a particular interest in issues of social and economic justice, gender justice, and reproductive rights.
She is currently co-counsel for Plaintiffs in Rumble v. Fairview Health Services and Emergency Physicians P.A. as well as Bradford v. Fairview Health Services, in which she represents transgender patients who have alleged discrimination in accessing healthcare services in violation of Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act and the Minnesota Human Rights Act.
The order from the District of Minnesota denying the Defendants’ motion to dismiss in the Rumble case has received national acclaim and attention for establishing that an allegation of discrimination on the basis of a person’s transgender status is an allegation of sex discrimination under Section 1557.
Prior to joining Robins Kaplan, Katie served as law clerk for the Honorable Karen Nelson Moore of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.
She also is a former Editor-in-Chief of the Harvard Journal of Law & Gender and holds an L.L.M. in Human Rights Law with Distinction and an M.A. in Politics with Honors from Queen’s University in Belfast, Northern Ireland, both degrees that she earned while a British Marshall Scholar.
More recently, the firm’s associates selected Katie for receipt of the Robins Kaplan 2016 Mentoring Award in recognition of her leadership and mentoring of attorneys in the early stages of their careers.
Education:
- Harvard Law School, J.D. (2005)
- Macalester College, B.A., (2000)
- Queen’s University Belfast, L.L.M.,(2002)
- Queen’s University Belfast, M.A., (2001)
Bar Admissions:
- Minnesota
- New York
- U.S. Bankruptcy Court, District of Minnesota
- U.S. Court of Appeals, First Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals, D.C. Circuit
- U.S. District Court, Minnesota
- U.S. District Court, North Dakota
- U.S. Supreme Court
Professional Associations:
- American Bar Association
- Council of Appellate Lawyers, Member of the Executive Board
- Eighth Circuit Bar Association
- Federal Bar Association, Member of Minnesota Chapter’s Diversity Committee
- Minnesota State Bar Association
- Minnesota Women Lawyers
- MSBA Appellate Practice Section, Member of Section Council
Cost
Rate : $$$
