Kathleen Balthrop Havener

Kathleen Havener, a 1991 honors graduate of Harvard Law School, began her law school career when her three daughters were 8, 5, and 4 years old respectively, entering fourth grade, kindergarten, and pre-school.  Accordingly, Kathleen considers herself an expert in time management and attention to detail.

Ms. Havener’s career has included many years in big firms, 8 years in her own small firm, and currently a small litigation firm. She has managed cases ranging from antitrust to zoning and nearly everything in between. Kathleen has participated as liaison counsel in multidistrict litigation, and has worked on corporate employee raiding cases, securities fraud litigation, environmental regulation, multi-billion dollar corporate tax controversies, intellectual property litigation, insurance coverage disputes, government contracts bid protests, administrative proceedings before the United States Department of Transportation and the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, complex commercial foreclosure actions and numerous appellate proceedings. Ms. Havener is experienced in mediation and arbitration, including international arbitration.  Early in her career, Ms. Havener represented the World Cup USA 1994 as Venue Legal Counsel in the Washington DC venue, coordinating safety and security arrangements with 20 separate law enforcement and security agencies throughout the DC Metropolitan Area.  

Ms. Havener is currently engaged in a constitutional law litigation practice in Washington, DC.

Along with her law practice, Kathleen is active in the American Bar Association Leadership. She formerly served as Co-Director of Division VI (The Profession) of the Section of Litigation after a three-year term as Co-Chair of the Section’s Woman Advocate Committee.  Kathleen is passionately committed to age, gender, racial, and ethnic diversity in the legal profession. She has published many articles and is a frequent lecturer at Continuing Legal Education Seminars and guest public speaker.

Her publications (hyperlinked where available) include:

·         “How to Deliver Bad News to Your Client,” ABA Solo|Small Firm Division GP|Solo Magazine (January/February 2016)

·         “A Litigator’s Reluctant Endorsement of Mediation,” ABA Solo|Small Firm Division GP|Solo Magazine (January/February 2015)

·         “Discovery Lessons Your Mother Should Have Taught You,” ABA Solo|Small Firm Division GP|Solo Magazine (July/August 2014)

·         “Unlearning Exclusion: How I Became a Part of the Solution,” ABA Solo|Small Firm Division GP|Solo Magazine (March/April 2014)

·         “Destination Disasters: Who’s at Fault?,” ABA Solo|Small Firm Division GP|Solo Magazine (June/July 2013)

·         “Landing the Big Fish: Small Firms Representing Big Companies,” ABA GP|Solo (May/June 2012)

·         “Making Magic With Courtroom Technology,” ABA GP|Solo (March/April 2012)

·         “Geronimo! Or How I Became a Sole Practitioner,” Litigation Journal (Winter 2010)

·         “A Lifetime of Learning: Why I am a Generalist,” Woman Advocate News (Fall 2007)

·         “Better Lawyers,” Perspectives—Journal of the National Association of Women Lawyers (December 2005)

·         “Method Acting for Lawyers,” Litigation (Summer 2005)

·         “Litigation (Rev. 2.0),” The American Lawyer (February 2005) (co-author)

·         “Lawyering on the Front Lines: On-Site Legal Counsel for Major Sporting Events,” 6 Marquette Sports Law Journal 29 (1995) (co-author)

·         Contributing Author, Smart Soloing, ABA Books, 2011

·         Contributing Author, Road to Independence, ABA Books, 2011