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Katherine Young Fergus
Associate
Duane Morris LLP
Suite 500
470 Atlantic Avenue
Boston, MA 02210-2243
USA

Phone: +1 857 488 4253
Fax: +1 857 401 3044
Email: KYFergus@duanemorris.com

Katherine Young Fergus practices in the area of general civil litigation, including commercial, business, healthcare, insurance, intellectual property and litigation involving real estate. Admitted to practice in Massachusetts and Maine, she has litigated multimillion-dollar business disputes, tort cases and healthcare matters, including class actions. Ms. Fergus has represented a diverse range of clients in a wide variety of matters in the state and federal courts. Since 2005, Ms. Fergus has been selected by her peers as a Massachusetts Rising Star in business litigation, a distinction reserved for those deemed to be among the top up-and-coming lawyers 40 years old and younger in Massachusetts.

Ms. Fergus has assisted clients in avoiding protracted litigation and trial. In a recent matter, she petitioned the trial court to permit the filing of a motion for summary judgment based on lack of affirmative evidence of negligence on the part of her client, a commercial shopping center and owner. The trial court granted her subsequent motion for summary judgment, which she defended on appeal in front of the Massachusetts Appeals Court. This resulted in final judgment of dismissal of all counts of the plaintiff's complaint in an action involving a plaintiff with significant personal injuries and medical expenses of over $1.4 million.

Ms. Fergus has also tried cases to final verdict. In 2007, she obtained a jury verdict for an individual with a difficult quantum meruit claim that resulted in a significant damages award for lost wages over a twenty-year period. Notwithstanding the absence of any writing to support the existence of an agreement for the payment of wages, Ms. Fergus persuaded a jury of twelve that her client was entitled to payment for her efforts on behalf of the defendants.

Ms. Fergus is a member of the Woman Advocate Committee of the American Bar Association, where she serves as the chair of the Balancing Work and Home Subcommittee. She is also a Pacesetter for the American Cancer Society's Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk, an honor she received for her fundraising efforts on behalf of that organization in connection with her role as captain of Team NSF.

Ms. Fergus is a 1997 magna cum laude graduate of Suffolk University Law School and a 1994 graduate of Bowdoin College.

Areas of Practice

• General Civil Litigation
  - commercial
  - business
  - healthcare
  - intellectual property
  - real estate litigation
  - domestic relations

Representative Matters

• Represented individuals in various domestic relations matters throughout the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
• Tried breach of contract matter for individual in Middlesex County Superior Court in 2007, resulting in a jury verdict in favor of the plaintiff and an award of damages.
• Tried a commercial summary process matter that resulted in the extension of an expired lease for a period of several months which gave the tenant client time to locate suitable alternate commercial space for his business.
• Obtained summary judgment for defendant commercial real estate development company in a negligence case involving a plaintiff with significant personal injuries and medical expenses of over $1.4 million.
• Won appeal in front of the Massachusetts Appeals Court that affirmed the granting of summary judgment for a commercial shopping center owner and developer.
• Obtained dismissal of counterclaims and confirmation of arbitration award in favor of financial services entity in the Suffolk County Superior Court.
• Obtained summary judgment in a commercial insurance coverage case in Penobscot County Superior Court in Bangor, Maine.
• Represented construction company to favorable resolution of claims against general contractor and various property owners for failure to pay amounts due for work, including obtaining mechanic's liens on the properties at issue.
• Represented an easement holder in Suffolk County Land Court in connection with litigation over the continued existence and scope of the easement to a resolution the client found favorable.
• Represented a promotional products and travel company to a resolution the client found favorable in a matter involving a former consultant claiming hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages for breach of contract.

Professional Activities

• American Bar Association
  - Litigation Section
  -- Woman Advocate Committee
  --- Chair, Balancing Work and Home Subcommittee, 2006-2008
• Massachusetts Bar Association
• Boston Bar Association
• National Association of Women Lawyers
• Women's Bar Association of Massachusetts

Admissions

• Massachusetts
• Maine
• U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts

Education

• Suffolk University Law School, J.D., 1997

Experience

• Duane Morris LLP
  - Associate, 2000-present
• Willcox, Pirozzolo & McCarthy, P.C., Boston, Massachusetts
  - Associate, 1997-1999

Civic and Charitable Activities

• Captain, Team NSF, Making Strides Against Breast Cancer, American Cancer Society's Walk for the Cure, 1998-2002
• Board of Directors, Harborview Children's Center

Honors and Awards

• Massachusetts Rising Star, 2005-2008
• Pacesetter, Making Strides Against Breast Cancer, American Cancer Society's Walk for the Cure

Selected Publications

• Co-author, "Writing Your Professional Biography," The Woman Advocate, Fall 2008
• Co-author, "Developing Emotional Intelligence to Avoid Traps in a Litigation Practice," The Woman Advocate, Summer 2008
• Author, "Blackberry Balance," The Woman Advocate, Summer 2008
• Author, "The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts Gives Unmarried Couples Standing to Petition to Adopt Children, But Is This Really An Endorsement of Non-Traditional Families?" Suffolk Journal of Trial and Appellate Advocacy, Vol. II, 1997