Kate S. O'Scannlain

A native of Portland, Oregon, O'Scannlain earned her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Notre Dame, graduating cum laude, and her Juris Doctor from Notre Dame Law School.[1][2] O'Scannlain's father is Diarmuid O'Scannlain, a Judge who served on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in Portland before entering senior status in 2016.[3]

Prior to joining the United States Department of Labor, O'Scannlain was a partner at Kirkland & Ellis, where she worked for 12 years in their Washington, D.C. office and specialized in commercial class-action litigation, contract disputes, insurance disputes, fraud and fiduciary duty claims, defamation claims, securities fraud, bankruptcy, and pension and retirement law.[4] She has served as a regular volunteer with the Catholic Charities Legal Network Clinic.[5] O'Scannlain is also a member of the conservative Federalist Society legal organization.[6]