Katherine Raunikar’s strong work ethic has helped her attain extensive legal experience in a variety of practice areas over a short amount of time. After graduating law school with honors, Katherine began her legal career at international law firm White & Case LLP, where she practiced corporate law in bank finance transactions before pivoting her practice to litigation. Because of her prior experience in the transactional field, Katherine brings a unique perspective to the table while representing clients in their commercial disputes. Having seen the same transactions from the business side, she is familiar with how deals are supposed to be conducted—and thus how they can go wrong.

Prior to her switch into litigation, Katherine served as a judicial clerk to Magistrate Judge Kevin J. Doyle in the U.S. District Court for Vermont, where she gained invaluable experience conducting case research, and drafting opinions in reports and recommendations and orders.

Katherine earned her juris doctorate from the University of Oklahoma College of Law and has a bachelor’s degree in business from Oklahoma State University.

EDUCATION

University of Oklahoma College of Law, J.D., 2019

  • Honors & Activities:
    • Order of the Coif
    • Managing Editor of Oklahoma Law Review
    • American Jurisprudence Awards in Torts, Constitutional Law, Criminal Law, Administrative Law, White Collar Crime, and International Business Transactions
    • Ruth Bader Ginsburg American Inn of Court
    • Dean’s Honor Roll
    • Phi Delta Phi

Oklahoma State University, B.S., General Business, 2016

  • Honors & Activities:
    • Phi Kappa Phi
    • Honors Degree Recipient
    • Honors College Ambassador
PAST EXPERIENCE
  • Judicial Clerk for the Honorable Kevin J. Doyle, Magistrate Judge, U.S. District Court for the District of Vermont (March 2021 – August 2022)
  • Associate, White & Case LLP (October 2019 – February 2021)
  • Judicial Extern for the Honorable Robert E. Bacharach – U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit (January 2018 – May 2018)
COURT ADMISSIONS
  • State Bar of Texas
  • United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas
  • United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
PUBLICATIONS & SPEECHES
  • Bachtell Enterprises, LLC v. Ankor E&P Holdings Corporation: Impeding Application of the Exculpatory Clause to Accounting-Related Breaches, The Energy Dispatch – a publication of the Institute for Energy Law Young Energy Professionals Committee, October 2023
PRO BONO/COMMUNITY

PRO BONO

Katherine has dedicated many hours to pro bono work in a wide range of matters, from drafting nonprofit trust documents to advocating for plaintiffs’ civil rights in a nationally recognized class action lawsuit.

  • Texas Freedom to Read Project, which supports parent and community led initiatives fighting for student rights, and the rights of every Texas, against censorship and book bans and to freely read and access information and ideas.

COMMUNITY

  • Houston Young Lawyers Association, Member
    • HYLA, Wellness Committee Co-Chair, 2023-24
    • HYLA, Judiciary Committee Co-Chair, 2023-24
  • Houston Young Lawyers Association Leadership Academy, 2023-2024
  • Institute for Energy Law Leadership Class, 2023-24
  • Institute for Energy Law, The Energy Dispatch Vice Chair, 2023-24
  • Institute for Energy Law, The Energy Dispatch Editorial Board, 2023-25