Catherine Smith

Catherine Sung-Yun K. Smith is a member of Gustafson Gluek PLLC. She is a graduate of Korea University with a major in English education and a graduate of the University of Minnesota Law School.

Cathy Smith has been practicing in the area of complex litigation since 2005 and joined Gustafson Gluek in 2007. Since joining Gustafson Gluek, Cathy has been working on various cases including complex antitrust and consumer protection class actions, particularly cases which involve foreign entities. Cathy is fluent in Korean and English and also has basic language skills in German, Japanese, and Chinese.

Cathy has been serving on the Antitrust Enforcement Award Judging Committee for the American Antitrust Institute since 2015. She is an active member of Minnesota Women Lawyers and the Federal Bar Association focusing on issues of diversity. Cathy was selected as a Minnesota “Rising Star” from 2013-2016 by Super Lawyers was selected as one of Minnesota Lawyer’s Attorneys of the Year in 2022.

Cathy has represented many pro se litigants through the Federal Bar Association’s Pro Se Project in addition to those referred to Gustafson Gluek by other sources and received the “Distinguished Pro Bono Service Award” in 2010 for her efforts . 

During law school, Cathy served as a director of the Civil Practice Clinic, a director of the William E. McGee National Civil Rights Moot Court Competition, and also participated in the Maynard Pirsig Moot Court. In addition, she served as a judicial extern for the Honorable Regina Chu, District Judge, Fourth Judicial District of Minnesota

For more information regarding Cathy and a list of her representative cases, see below.

More About Catherine

    • University of Minnesota Law School - J.D. (2005)

    • Korea University - B.A. (2000)

    • New York State Bar

    • Minnesota State Bar

    • U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota

    • Named a Minnesota Rising Star by Super Lawyers (2013-2016)

    • “Distinguished Pro Bono Service Award” (2010)

    • Selected as a Minnesota Attorney of the Year by Minnesota Lawyer (2022)

  • Cathy is currently representing a class of consumer who purchased products containing hard disk drive (HDD) in In re Hard Disk Drive Suspension Assemblies Antitrust Litig. (N.D. Cal.). The plaintiffs are alleging that the defendants, HDD suspension assemblies manufacturers, injured the consumers by conspiring to fix prices and allocate market shares for HDD suspension assemblies market in the United States. This case is consolidated in Northern District of California and involves defendants from Japan, Thailand, China, as well as U.S. companies. One of the defendants, NHK Springs, already agreed to plead guilty and to pay $28.5 million in criminal fines.

    Cathy has worked on many other antitrust cases involving foreign defendants and played an integral part in discovery. These cases include In re Lithium Ion Batteries Antitrust Litig. (N.D. Cal.); In re Optical Disk Drive Products Antitrust Litig. (N.D. Cal.); In re Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) Antitrust Litig. (N.D. Cal.); and In re TFT-LCD (Flat Panel) Antitrust Litig. (N.D. Cal.). Cathy also played a major role in discovery against one of the bank defendants in Payment Card Interchange Fee and Merchant Discount Antitrust Litig. (E.D.N.Y.), where Gustafson Gluek was designated to serve on the executive committee. The case ultimately settled for over $6.2 billion.

    Other Representative Cases:

    • Fuentes et al. v. Jiffy Lube International, Inc. (E.D. Pa)

    • Baldwin et al. v. Miracle-Ear Inc. et al (D. Minn)

    • In re Juul Labs, Inc. Antitrust Litigation (N.D. Cal)

    • In re Dealer Management Systems Antitrust Litig. (N.D. Ill.)

    • In re Remicade Antitrust Litig. (E.D. Pa.Fath et al. v. Honda North America, Inc. (D. Minn.)

    • Penrod et al. v. K&N Engineering, Inc. (D. Minn.)

    • Frost et al. v. LG Corp., et al. (N.D. Cal.)

    • In re Railway Industry Employee No-Poach Antitrust Litig. (W.D. Pa.)

    • In re Korean Air Lines Co. Ltd. Antitrust Litig. (C.D. Cal.)

    • In re Automotive Parts Antitrust Litig. (E.D. Mich.)

    • In re Payment Card Interchange Fee and Merchant Discount Antitrust Litig. (E.D.N.Y.)

    • In re Home Depot Data Breach (N.D. Ga.)

    • In re Experian Data Breach (C.D. Cal.)

    • Brent and Teri Johnson, LLC v. First American Financial Corporation, et al. (C.D. Cal)

    • In re Aspartame Antitrust Litig.(E.D. Pa.)