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Catherine E. Bennett, senior counsel in the firm's General Civil and Complex Litigation, Appeals and Writs Department, focuses her practice in the areas of Appeals and Writs and Civil Litigation. Catherine is certified as a specialist in appellate law by the State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization. She is the former president of the Kern County Bar Association and joined the firm in 1995 after receiving her J.D. from the California Pacific School of Law the same year. She also holds an M.B.A. from California State University, Bakersfield.

Practice Focus

• Product liability
• Mass Torts
• Wrongful Death
• Serious Personal Injuries
• General Civil and Complex Litigation

Bar Admissions

• State Bar of California, 2006

Education

• Bachelor of Arts, California State University, Bakersfield, 1980
• MBA, California State University, Bakersfield, 1991
• Juris Doctor, California Pacific School of Law, Class Valedictorian, 1995

Certified Legal Specialties

• Certified Specialist Appellate Law, State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization

Honors and Awards

• Super Lawyers, 2012 - 2023
• BV® Rated by Martindale-Hubbell
• GBLA Legal Services Award, 2005
• KCBA Bench and Bar Award, 2019
• CSU Bakersfield Alumni Hall of Fame, Inducted February 28, 2015

Professional Associations and Memberships

• Kern County Bar Association, 1995 - Present
  • Board of Directors, 2000 - 2007
  • Secretary/CFO, 2003
  • Vice President, 2004
  • President-Elect, 2005
  • President, 2006
  • Past President, 2007
  • Women Lawyers Section, 2013 - Present
  • Family Law Section, 2013 - Present
• Kern County Bar Association Charitable Foundation
  • Board of Directors, 2008 - Present
  • Treasurer, 2012 - Present
• State Bar of California, Standing Committee on the Delivery of Legal Services, 2007 - 2012
  • Vice-Chair, 2010 - 2011
  • Chair, 2011 - 2012
• Kern County Women Lawyers Association, 1994 - 2012
  • Board of Directors. 1996 - 2001, 2002 - 2005
  • Secretary, 1997 -1998, 2002 - 2005
  • Vice President, 1998 - 1999
  • President, 1999 - 2000
• Kern County Women Lawyers Foundation
  • Board of Trustees, 1997 - 2013
  • Treasurer, 2009 - 2013
• Bakersfield North Rotary, 2008 - Present
  • President 2020 - 2021
• Bakersfield North Rotary Foundation, 2009 - Present
  • President, 2021 - 2022
  • Vice President, 2020 - 2021
  • Secretary, 2019 - 2020
  • Treasurer, 2012 - 2019; 2022 - Present 

Professional Experience

• Klein, DeNatale, Goldner, Cooper, Rosenlieb & Kimball, LLP., 1995 - Present