Bio

Catherine Deter is a partner in WSHB’s Orange County office. In her practice, she represents national and regional construction, engineering and architectural firms in complex litigation and business and employment practice issues and disputes. Specifically, Catherine excels in the representation of architects, engineers, and other design professionals because of her passionate drive to protect creative individuals and work quickly to favorably resolve claims. She has also represented some of the country’s largest builders and developers. Additionally, Catherine is well-versed in other areas of construction litigation, pre-claim assistance and risk management, and has also represented general contractors, and numerous construction sub-trades. Her unique practice representing a variety of professionals in the construction industry provides her with valuable insight in evaluating claims to bring them to speedy resolution.

Catherine specializes in pre-claim assistance to provide our clients with valuable guidance on managing risk, avoiding future claims, and pre-trial resolution. Catherine’s creative and strategic approach to pre-claim assistance and early litigation defense strategy often resolves claims in the very early stages, delivering considerable time and cost savings. She enjoys employing strategy in her law and motion practice, with the goal of posturing cases for successful dispositive motions and early resolution.

Throughout her career, Catherine has represented some of the largest professional design firms in the world, top industry leaders, individuals, professionals, and corporations. Catherine’s ability to effectively communicate with clients from all backgrounds is key to her successful development of litigation strategy. Catherine’s practice also includes a diverse group of high exposure catastrophic injury cases, automobile accidents, wrongful death actions, intellectual property disputes, habitability claims, and business transactions. Catherine also effectively litigates and counsels a wide variety of professional liability claims, including veterinary malpractice claims. She expanded her practice to include toxic tort and pollution matters, representing some of the country’s largest commercial property owners.

Catherine comes from a hospitality background and is known for her excellent client communication and service. Catherine is a graduate of Whittier Law School and earned her undergraduate degree in Rhetoric and Writing, with honors, from the University of Texas at Austin.