Kathryn E. Nelson Of Counsel
Kathryn Nelson has served as Of Counsel with Berg Plummer & Johnson, LLP since 2014. She has focused her legal career across two decades on handling complex business litigation for small and mid-size organizations in contract, employment, and regulatory matters. She has represented individuals in professional malpractice and employment disputes as well as in personal injury actions. Her noteworthy successes include obtaining the dismissal of a False Claims Act suit against healthcare provider and obtaining a civil settlement against a privately held commercial grocer for making false claims and using falsified documents to make those claims, violating the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act and causing their customers to violate the Act.
She likes commercial litigation work because she is helping clients save their businesses and preserve their life’s work. She has also enjoyed learning the nuances of heavily regulated industries and how to navigate complex federal regulations to help her clients achieve the best possible outcomes. Her approach is to be empathetic but honest and frank, painting a realistic picture of the client’s situation while letting them know you care about them and the matter’s outcome.
Kathryn is licensed to practice in Texas, as well in the United States District Courts for the Southern District of Texas and Eastern District of Texas. She is also admitted to practice before the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. She graduated from Barnard College, Columbia University with a Bachelor of Arts in Italian, cum laude and obtained her Juris Doctorate, cum laude in 2002 the University of Houston Law Center.
She was recognized by her peers for inclusion as a Texas Super Lawyers Rising Star in 2007 and 2010 for business litigation. She is also a member of the Houston Bar Association and State Bar of Texas Litigation Section.
Practice Areas
- Business Litigation
- Employment Litigation
- Civil Litigation
Employment History
Berg Plummer & Johnson, LLP
Of Counsel
March 2014 – present
Berg & Androphy
Associate
August 2007 – June 2012
Brown McCarroll
Associate
January 2007 – August 2007
Baker & Hostetler LLP
Associate
August 2004 – December 2006
Beirne, Maynard & Parsons, LLP
Associate
July 2003 – August 2004
Fourteenth Court of Appeals
Justice Richard Edelman
Intern
2000
Education
- University of Houston Law Center, Juris Doctorate, cum laude, 2002
- Dean’s Scholarship
- James W. Skelton, Jr. Writing Award for Achievement in International Public Interest Law
- Houston Journal of International Law, Senior Articles Editor
- Texas Innocence Network Screening Team
- Blakely-Butler Moot Court Tournament
- Employment & Labor Law Society
- Association of Women in Law
- Barnard College, Columbia University, Bachelor of Arts in Italian, cum laude, 1998
- Student Help for the Aging
- Theatre at Barnard
Bar and Court Admissions
- Texas, 2002
- United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas
- United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas
- United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
Professional Affiliations
- State Bar of Texas, Litigation Section
- Houston Bar Association
- Litigation Section
- AIDS Outreach Committee
- Elder Law Committee
- Juvenile and Capital Advocacy Project of Texas, Mentor, 2015 – 2019
Awards and Honors
- Texas Super Lawyers Rising Star, 2007 and 2010 (Business Litigation)
Representative Matters
- Cause No. 4:05-cv-03018; United States ex rel. Pallares v. Itani; In the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division – Won settlement with American Grocers in False Claims Act action. Case involved alteration of expiration dates and forgery of health certificates for food products sent to U.S. troops in Middle East.
- (Confidential) Obtained dismissal of all environmental criminal charges against Spanish maritime company by U.S. Department of Justice. The company rejected all attempts by Justice Department to obtain corporate pleas.
- Cause No. 4:09-cr-00492; United States v. Mylonakis; In the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division – Won acquittal of Greek maritime officer accused of environmental crimes by U.S. Department of Justice in so-called “magic pipe” jury trial. Case involved allegations of dumping of oil tanker waste off Texas Gulf coast. Only two other acquittals have been reported in the history of “magic pipe” prosecutions.
- Cause No. 2003-50570; Bahía las Minas Corp. v. Cox Dedicated Corporate Member Ltd.; In the 215th Judicial District Court of Harris County, Texas – Won $5.6 million jury verdict for electric utility against Underwriters at Lloyds. Case involved insurance claims for business interruption and property damage to utility’s cogeneration plant in Republic of Panama.
Speaking Engagements
- Case Update, Houston Bar Association Appellate Section, 2006
- Ethical Pitfalls Posed by Corporate Employees: Modern Legal and Practical Approaches, Association of Women Attorneys, 2005
Publications
- The Intersection of the Dodd-Frank Act and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act: What All Practitioners, Whistleblowers, Defendants, and Corporations Need to Know, The Advocate, 2012.
- Sex Trafficking and Forced Prostitution: Comprehensive New Legal Approaches, 24 Hou. J. Int’l Law 551, 2002.
- San Antonio Express-News, 2015
Community Involvement
- YMCA International Services, English as a Second Language (ESL) tutor, 2013 – 2014