K&L Gates Grows Public Policy and Law Practice in Texas With Austin Partner Addition

Austin – Global law firm K&L Gates LLP welcomes Kate Goodrich Wright to the firm’s Public Policy and Law practice as a partner in the Austin office. She joins the firm from Holland & Knight LLP.

With a significant background working in and with the Texas Legislature and state agencies, Wright focuses her practice on public policy, procedure, and legislative law. She has extensive experience counseling clients on procedural rules, ethics, campaign finance, open records, and bill drafting. Her government practice includes representing clients on legislative, regulatory, and administrative matters across a wide range of policy areas, with an emphasis on housing, transportation, municipalities, local governments, nonprofit organizations, technology, healthcare, and veterans.

Wright advises clients in their interactions with Texas government, including advocating before the state legislature, assisting with the rulemaking process, advising on regulatory matters before state agencies, boards, and commissions, and handling open records matters before the Texas Attorney General.

Prior to entering private practice, Wright served as deputy general counsel and policy advisor to the Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives. In that role, she advised on hundreds of pieces of legislation, including priority bills focused primarily on the budget, transportation, veterans, housing, the judiciary, and local governments.

“Kate brings an intimate understanding of the Texas legislative process, state agencies, and the relationships required to navigate them successfully,” said Robert McCarthy, managing partner of K&L Gates’ Austin office. “With K&L Gates’ long-standing presence in Texas, Kate’s experience advising clients on matters specific to Texas law across a wide range of industries further strengthens our ability to serve clients on the issues that matter most in the state.”

The arrival of Wright follows the addition of several new lawyers and policy professionals who have joined the firm’s Public Policy and Law practice in the last year, including partners Marne Marotta and David Skillman, of counsel Varun Jain, government affairs advisor Dr. Alexis Gutierrez, and counsel Tara Ganapathy.

Michael Scanlon, a leader of K&L Gates’ global Policy & Regulatory practice area, remarked: “Kate’s experience allows her to guide clients through nearly every stage of the public policy process in Texas, from legislative strategy to regulatory implementation. She understands how policy decisions are made and how to help clients engage effectively, pragmatically, and ethically to achieve their objectives.”

With a significant team of bipartisan lawyers and policy professionals who have more than 500 years of combined government experience, members of K&L Gates’ Public Policy and Law practice work with clients through the entire policy life cycle—from legislation to regulation and dispute resolution. The group is one of the largest public policy practices of any global integrated law firm.