As Senior Counsel at Woodward and Company, Kate is specialized in Indigenous rights, decolonization litigation and large-scale negotiations, and governance and selfdetermination. Her driving motivator is to decolonize the legal systems in Canada that have caused harm to human–and other-then–human–environments.
Kate holds a BBA from the University of New Brunswick, a master’s degree in Journalism and Mass Communications from the University of Western Ontario, and a law degree from the University of Toronto.
Kate began her practice of Indigenous Rights Law in 2001 and has worked on an enormous array of matters pertaining to Indigenous Peoples. A member of the Ontario, Manitoba and BC Bars, she has won a number of significant cases and has been involved in major breakthroughs in Crown-Business-Indigenous Nations relations and developments.
Having found success at the helm of many important legal battles across Canada, Kate has been recognized in Lexpert’s Most Frequently Recommended, Best Lawyers in America®, and has won multiple important cases on injunctions against development, treaty rights defences, and judicial reviews on the duty to consult and accommodate.
Membership & Professional Affiliations
Member, Law Society of BC (2022)
Member, Law Society of Ontario (2001)
Member, Law Society of Manitoba (2015)
Practice Areas
Aboriginal and Treaty Rights
Aboriginal Title
Additions to Reserve
Consultation and Accommodation
Election code
First Nation Constitutions, Laws & Policy
Governance support
Impact Benefit Agreements
Indigenous Legal Orders and Law
Land Interests
Land Use Planning
Membership Code
Natural Resources
Regulatory Processes and Hearings
RIRSD & G2G Agreements
Specific Claims
Strategic Reconciliation Planning
Treaty Negotiation and Implementation