Cathy Smith has been practicing complex litigation since 2005 and joined Gustafson Gluek in 2007. Cathy became a Member at Gustafson Gluek in 2012 and has been co-chair of the Firm’s Consumer Practice Group since 2021. Cathy was appointed Firm Manager effective January 1, 2025. Since joining the Firm, Cathy has worked on a wide array of cases including complex antitrust and consumer protection class actions, particularly those involving difficult discovery and legal issues with regard to foreign entity defendants. Cathy is fluent in Korean and English; and also has basic language skills in German, Japanese, and Chinese.
In addition to complex antitrust and consumer practice cases, Cathy has handled many pro bono cases, including those through the Federal Pro Se Project, one of many legal service programs strongly supported by Gustafson Gluek. She received the “Distinguished Pro Bono Service Award” in 2010 as well as being recognized as an Attorney of the Year in 2022 for her work on pro bono matters. Cathy was also selected as a 2025 Top Women in Law by Minnesota Lawyer.
Cathy has served 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, where she focuses on diversity-related issues. Cathy was selected as a Minnesota “Rising Star” from 2013-2016 and as a “Super Lawyer” in 2022 and 2023 by Super Lawyers. Cathy has participated as a speaker in various events including the Annual Class Action Western Alliance Bank Law, the COSAL Diversity, Equality & Inclusion Summit, the FBA Mass/Class Committee, and the ABA Spring Meeting.
Cathy holds a degree in English Education from Korea University. She earned her J.D. from the University of Minnesota Law School. During law school, Cathy served as a director of the Civil Practice Clinic and the William E. McGee National Civil Rights Moot Court Competition, and she participated in the Maynard Pirsig Moot Court. She also served as a judicial extern for the Honorable Regina Chu, District Judge, Fourth Judicial District of Minnesota.
Originally from Seoul, Korea, Cathy grew up dreaming about a life filled with adventures and travel around the world. She attended MyungDeok Foreign Language High School, where she studied German, Japanese, and Chinese in addition to English. She jumped at any opportunity to practice these languages in the hopes that one day she would visit all the countries where these languages are spoken. After majoring in English language education at Korea University, she briefly considered becoming a teacher in Korea before developing an interest in a legal career. As accurately predicted by a Saju reader she visited while working as a paralegal in Korea, Cathy not only moved to the U.S. and became an attorney, but she also got married shortly after, made Minnesota her new home, and became a mom 10 years later.
For more information regarding Cathy and a list of her representative cases, see below.
More About Catherine
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University of Minnesota Law School, J.D. (2005)
Korea University, B.A. (2000)
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New York State Bar
Minnesota State Bar
U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota
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Top Women in Law (2025) by Minnesota Lawyer
Minnesota Super Lawyer (2022, 2023) by Super Lawyers
Minnesota Attorney of the Year (2022) by Minnesota Lawyer
Minnesota Rising Star (2013-2016) by Super Lawyers
“Distinguished Pro Bono Service Award” (2010) from the Pro Se Project (Minnesota Federal District Court)
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Cathy has been involved in many antitrust, consumer protection and data breach litigations in addition to her active pro bono work.
Cathy is currently representing a class of consumers who purchased products containing hard disk drives (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 the Northern District of California and involves defendants from Japan, Thailand, and 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.). She was an integral part of the trial team for the CRT Antitrust case and LCD Antitrust case. Cathy also played a major role in the 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.
Cathy co-chairs the Firm’s consumer protection practice group and she is working on cases involving heavy metals in baby foods and infant formulas as well as other consumer food products. She also works on various pro bono cases, including the cases through the Federal Pro Se Project.
Other Representative Cases:
In re Juul Labs, Inc. Antitrust Litig. (N.D. Cal)
Seutter et al. v. Mead Johnson Nutrition Co. et al. (D. Minn.)
In re Recalled Abbott Infant Formula Products (N.D. Ill.)
Gulkarov et al. v. Plum (N.D. Cal.)
In re Consumer Vehicle Driving Data Tracking Collection (N.D. Ga.)
In re Nurture Baby Food Litig. (S.D.N.Y.)
Fuentes et al. v. Jiffy Lube International, Inc. (E.D. Pa)
Baldwin et al. v. Miracle-Ear Inc. et al (D. Minn)
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 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)