Katherine Turner is Co-Chair of Williams & Connolly’s Accountant Liability practice group and Co-Chair of the Firm’s Congressional Investigations practice group. She recently completed a term on the Firm’s Executive Committee. Katherine has extensive experience in defending accounting firms and their auditors in professional liability litigation and SEC and PCAOB regulatory matters, including work for three of the Big Four firms, several Big Four international member firms, and a prominent national accounting firm. Chambers USA (2025) has recognized Katherine among the top lawyers nationwide in Accountant and Auditor Liability, placing her in Band 1 in its inaugural ratings for this practice area. In addition to her government investigations work, Katherine has led multiple internal investigations concerning audit, accounting, governance and management, and personnel issues for a range of clients, including accounting firms, public companies, and non-profit organizations. Her recent investigations experience includes an internal investigation for the Audit Committee of a public technology company, an independent investigation for the board of a major academic institution regarding the leadership of its healthcare system, and two large-scale investigations for Big Four accounting firms concerning regulatory matters. Katherine was recently recognized by Lawdragon (2025) for this work as one of its Global 500 Leaders in Crisis Management. Katherine also has significant experience in representing clients in congressional investigations, including representation of Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton before the House Select Committee on Benghazi, representation of a University president before the House Committee on Educations & the Workforce, and current representations of former government officials in matters before the House Committee on Oversight and Reform and the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. She has recently represented a U.S. Senator in a government investigation and a State Democratic party in a personnel matter. Her practice also encompasses complex litigation in several other substantive areas, including securities litigation and commercial contract disputes, in federal and state cases and in arbitration before AAA, CPR, JAMS, and FINRA. Katherine has represented individuals in a variety of matters, ranging from Title IX disciplinary proceedings to private business disputes. Benchmark Litigation has recognized Katherine as a “Litigation Star” in the areas of commercial litigation and white-collar criminal defense, 2017 – 2025, and among the “Top 250 Women in Litigation” for the last nine years. Katherine was born and raised near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and graduated from Georgetown University, summa cum laude, in 2001. She received her J.D., cum laude, from Harvard Law School, where she was an editor of the Harvard Law Review. She joined Williams & Connolly in 2005, after serving as a law clerk to the Honorable Bruce Marshall Selya of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. In 2015, Katherine co-founded the firm’s Women’s Initiative and previously served as its Co-Chair. She has also served as Chair of the firm’s Intake Committee and a member of its Hiring Committee. Representative ExperienceThough all cases vary and none is predictive, Katherine's experience includes:
- Current representation of foreign Big Four firm in SEC investigation concerning auditor independence issues and related internal investigation.
- Current representation of Big Four firm and several foreign Big Four firms in separate PCAOB investigations involving issues such as inventory reserves, auditing standards related to audit committee communications, and firms’ systems of quality control over audits.
- Current representation of Big Four firms and individual audit partner in separate SEC investigations, concerning issues including revenue recognition, auditor independence, audit client compliance with laws and regulations.
- Current representation of public company in State Attorney General litigation concerning employment practices.
- Current representation of Big Four firm concerning services provided to a major bank in FDIC receivership.
- Current representation of former government officials in matters before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations.
- Representation of Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton in litigation matters, including obtaining dismissal with prejudice of the complaint in Trump v. Clinton and an award of sanctions against Plaintiff Trump and his counsel and recent affirmance of those orders by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.
- Representation of an Ivy League university in a House Judiciary Committee investigation.
- Defense of major accounting firm and individual partner in separate matters before two state boards of accountancy.
- Successful representation of national accounting firm and an engagement partner in a three-year PCAOB investigation related to audits of a media company, resulting in no action taken against the firm or the partner.
- Representation of Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton before the House Select Committee on Benghazi and in connection with matters concerning her e-mail use.
- Representation of State Democratic party in a personnel matter.
- Led independent investigation for Board of a major academic institution concerning leadership and governance issues related to its healthcare system.
- Led internal investigation for Big Four accounting firm concerning auditor compliance with continuing professional education requirements.
- Led internal investigation for Audit Committee of a public technology company concerning accounting and governance issues.
- Led separate internal investigations for three national non-profit organizations concerning conduct of board members and executives.
- Successful defense of a faculty member in Title IX hearing, resulting in a finding of not responsible.
- Successful representation of Big Four accounting firm in SEC investigation related to audits of an energy company, resulting in no action taken against the firm or its auditors.
- Successful representation of Big Four accounting firm and audit partner in PCAOB and SEC investigations related to audits of a life sciences company, resulting in no action taken against the firm or its auditors.
- Successful representation of foreign Big Four accounting firm and two audit partners in PCAOB investigation related to audits of a technology company, resulting in no action taken against the firm or its auditors.
- Successful representation of national accounting firm in defense of professional liability claims arising from audits of funds invested in the Petters Ponzi scheme, including prevailing at summary judgment against ~$1 billion claim brought by funds’ bankruptcy trustee and defeating two investor suits at the motion-to-dismiss stage.
- Representation of a national accounting firm in successful resolution of a set of putative class actions concerning audits of investment funds.
- Representation of national accounting firm in successful resolution of professional liability cases involving audits of a health insurance company and an employee benefit plan.
- Representation of Big Four accounting firm in successful resolution of professional liability cases involving audits of funds invested in healthcare receivables.
- Representation of Fortune 50 healthcare company in successful resolution of securities class action litigation involving ~$900M in alleged damages.
- Successful defense of several interdealer brokers in disputes with their former employer in series of FINRA arbitrations.
- Successful defense of technology company in JAMS arbitration involving alleged violations of trademark agreement, resulting in judgment in favor of client on all claims and an award of attorney’s fees, following full merits trial.
- Successful representation of Big Four accounting firm in appeal of trial verdict in which the jury had assigned liability to a non-client arising from an audit.
Recognitions"Accountant and Auditor Liability", Chambers USA, 2025 "Litigation Star," Benchmark Litigation, 2017 – 2026 "Global 500 Leaders in Crisis Management," Lawdragon, 2025 “Top 250 Women in Litigation,” Benchmark Litigation, 2016 – 2025 “40 & Under Hot List”, Benchmark Litigation, 2017 – 2020 Selected to Washington, D.C. “Rising Stars” list, Super Lawyers, 2014 – 2019 |
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