Overview

Kate Toomey’s practice focuses on the litigation and favorable resolution of complex transnational disputes.  She has been described by her opposing counsel as “an ‘aggressive, tenacious, indefatigable advocate.’”  Sokol Holdings Inc. v. Dorsey & Whitney, C.A. No. 09C-08-239 (JAP) (Del. Super. 2013).

Ms. Toomey concentrates on cases involving sophisticated financial products, banking standards and duties, and a wide variety of financial frauds.  She has extensive experience in the litigation of frauds involving forged documents.  Ms. Toomey’s expertise extends to the area of international insolvency and she has provided U.S. representation to liquidators of international financial institutions and multinational corporations in cross-border fraud, RICO and money laundering cases and in connection with the collection of U.S. assets, the pursuit and defense of U.S. litigation and the obtaining of U.S. discovery under Chapter 15 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. In recognition of her experience and success in the tracing and recovery of lost, misappropriated and stolen assets, Ms. Toomey was highlighted as a global leader in Who’s Who Legal: Asset Recovery 2019.

In addition to her international work, Ms. Toomey is an expert in anti-money laundering/anti-terrorist financing compliance, including federal and state licensing requirements, OFAC regulations, and application of the USA PATRIOT Act.  She also advises on compliance with the Foreign Agents Registration Act.

Ms. Toomey speaks regularly on diverse issues including U.S. compliance, developments in U.S. litigation and procedures, dispute resolution in the Middle East, and international discovery pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1782 and the Hague Evidence Convention.  She also advises remittance companies in the establishment and maintenance of banking relationships.

Pro Bono and Community Service

  • Throughout her career, Ms. Toomey has worked on pro bono matters.   She has represented detainees held by the United States at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and at Bagram Air Force Base, Afghanistan.  
  • Ms. Toomey represents groups opposing the death penalty in various types of litigation, including public records cases concerning the sources and use of pharmaceuticals needed for lethal injection. 
  • Ms. Toomey is also on the Board of Bread for the City, a D.C. based charity which provides medical care, legal representation, food, clothing, and other services to those in need in the D.C. area. 

Professional Affiliations

  • International Business Law Consortium

Experience

  • Law Clerk to the Honorable Judge James K. Logan, United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit

Representative Matters

  • Obtained dismissal of Anti-Terrorism Act case filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York against two Somali-American owned remittance companies.

  • Represented Saudi family-owned conglomerate in litigation in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois regarding the purchase of fire apparatus and equipment from U.S. supplier

  • Represented Dubai company responsible for development of major horse racing and resort complex in request for documents from multinational energy and electronics conglomerate, under 28 U.S.C. § 1782, in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey
  • Represented Saudi family-owned conglomerate Ahmad Hamad Algosaibi & Brothers in development of global strategy and in multiple cases in the United States including proceedings in New York concerning the liability of the company based on forged instruments and cutting edge litigation in New York, Pennsylvania and the District of Columbia, regarding the enforcement of foreign judgments in the United States
  • Represented Egyptian conglomerate in litigation in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit regarding enforcement of exclusive bottling rights against major international soft drink company
  • Represented Kazakh law firm in request for documents from former clients under 28 U.S.C. § 1782 in the U.S. District Court for Colorado and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
  • Represented Liquidators of major Asian electronics company in request for documents from international accounting firm, under 28 U.S.C. § 1782, in the Southern District of New York.
  • Represented the Liquidators of Bank of Credit and Commerce International in U.S. criminal proceedings, proceedings under Section 304 of the Bankruptcy Code and in fraud and RICO litigation in the District Court for the Southern District of New York, the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, the District Court for the District of Columbia, and the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit
  • Represented major international Armenian charity in litigation in the District Court for the Central District of California and the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit brought by the Patriarch of the Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople challenging the closing of a boarding school in Cyprus
  • Represented major soft drink bottlers in Egypt and Saudi Arabia in corporate transactions involving the sale of bottling operations and the transfer of exclusive bottling rights
  • Provided advice to U.K. financial institutions and Lloyd’s Market Insurers on requirements for compliance with U.S. sanctions regulations
  • Provided long term advice and representation, including in respect of U.S. sanctions and anti-money laundering compliance, to major remittance company servicing Somali residents of the U.S. 

Publications & Events

In the News

Education

  • Yale Law School (J.D. 1989), Senior Editor of the Yale Law Journal, Awarded C LaRue Munson Prize for Clinical Projects
  • Washington University in St. Louis (A.B., with University Honors, 1985)

Bar Admissions

  • District of Columbia
  • United States Courts of Appeals for the Fourth, Ninth, Eleventh, and D.C. Circuits