Cathy Gonzales O'Kelly > Vedder Price > Chicago, United States > Lawyer Profile
Vedder Price Offices
222 NORTH LASALLE STREET, SUITE 2600
CHICAGO, IL 60601-1003
ILLINOIS
United States
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Cathy Gonzales O'Kelly
Work Department
Investment Services
Position
Shareholder
Career
As the Co-Chair of the firm’s Investment Services group, her practice includes representation of mutual funds and their boards of directors, money managers, broker-dealers, banks, insurance companies and other financial institutions in connection with investment company, investment adviser, broker-dealer and insurance product matters, including securities, regulatory, product design and transaction counseling.
Ms. O’Kelly counsels boards of directors of investment companies, and in particular independent directors, on their special responsibilities.
Ms. O’Kelly began her legal career with the Securities and Exchange Commission in Washington, DC, where she worked on the Investment Company Act Special Study and served as Special Counsel in the Division of Investment Management until 1983.
Ms. O’Kelly is co-author of an article published in the DePaul Business Journal entitled “Soft Dollars and Other Traps for the Investment Adviser: An Analysis of Brokerage Placement Practices.” She has served as Chair of the Investment Company Subcommittee of the Chicago Bar Association. Ms. O’Kelly has also served as a trustee of the College of William and Mary Foundation.
Memberships
- Past Chair, Investment Company Subcommittee, Chicago Bar Association
- Member, The Chicago Network
Education
- University of Virginia, J.D., 1978
- College of William and Mary, A.B., 1975
Lawyer Rankings
United States > Investment fund formation and management > Mutual/registered/exchange-traded funds
Admired for its ‘extensive knowledge and experience in the mutual fund industry‘, Vedder Price is a reliable choice for the range of matters in the registered fund sphere, from the plethora of regulatory matters, securities regulations and ERISA and tax matters, to derivatives and structured products, transactions and contentious issues. The practice acts for hundreds of separate open and closed-end Investment Company Act of 1940 registered funds, ranging from those with $5bn to over $100bn in assets. The firm’s Chicago office is a key location for the practice; practice co-heads Cathy Gonzales O’Kelly and Joseph Mannon are based there, as well as Renee Hardt and Deborah Bielicke Eades. Bruce Rosenblum is the third of the trio coordinating the department and is based in Washington DC, alongside Marguerite Bateman and Amy Ward Pershkow.
Lawyer Rankings
Top Tier Firm Rankings
- Transport > Aviation and air travel: finance
- M&A/corporate and commercial > M&A: middle-market (sub-$500m)
- Real estate > Land use/zoning
- M&A/corporate and commercial > M&A: middle-market (sub-$500m)
- M&A/corporate and commercial > M&A: middle-market (sub-$500m)
- Transport > Rail and road: finance
Firm Rankings
- M&A/corporate and commercial > M&A: middle-market (sub-$500m)
- Transport > Shipping: finance
- Labor and employment > Labor-management relations
- Investment fund formation and management > Mutual/registered/exchange-traded funds
- Labor and employment > Workplace and employment counseling
- Labor and employment > Employee benefits, executive compensation and retirement plans: design
- Labor and employment > Labor and employment disputes (including collective actions)
- Dispute resolution > Securities litigation: defense
- Investment fund formation and management > Private equity funds (including venture capital)
- Dispute resolution > Corporate investigations and white-collar criminal defense