Tag Archive for: Special Counsel

Cathy Yoon, Special Counsel, Financial Markets and Funds, Katten

Cathy Yoon“Keep an open mind. Just because you start your practice one way doesn’t mean you’re wedded to that,” says Katten’s Cathy Yoon.

“When I mentor college and law students as they start their careers, they always ask how I ended up where I am today, and I tell them it’s ok if you have no idea what you want to do because you’ll figure it out.”

Finding Her Niche

As the oldest child of first generation Korean immigrants, Yoon says she faced a lot of pressure from her parents to choose a “good,” well-paying career.

But after graduating from Swarthmore College as a history major, Yoon wasn’t sure what her career path would be. A friend was a legal assistant at a large law firm, and that prompted her to consider enrolling in law school. She attended New York Law School and after passing the bar went to a law firm as an associate handling corporate transactions and working primarily with private equity firms and hedge funds.

Her early legal training paid off. After three years, Yoon was recruited by one of the largest global financial services institutions in the world and became a managing director and senior counsel handling corporate legal matters, including acquisitions, divestitures, strategic initiatives, FinTech and other minority investments and other general corporate matters. During her seven-year tenure there, the Dodd-Frank Act was enacted, designed to prevent another financial crisis by implementing various reforms impacting how banks operated. This included restrictions on large financial institutions from growing by way of acquisitions or ventures and such restrictions started to impact Yoon’s practice.

At this point, Yoon pivoted and looked into what the smaller strategy groups were doing and started to move away from working on large corporate transactions and focused on more strategic initiatives such as representing the financial institution in several enterprise blockchain consortiums, where it joined other companies in the development of blockchain technology. This experience introduced Yoon to emerging technology in the financial services space, and the more she learned about blockchain and other forms of distributed ledger technology, the more interested she became.

She reached out to her network of colleagues and friends who were dabbling in it and eventually left the financial institution and joined a blockchain advisory start-up. “Until now I had gone the safe route, with a large law firm and financial institutions, and then I jumped headfirst into start-up life,” Yoon says. She wore many different hats—in consulting, business development, strategy and marketing, as well as acting as general counsel. “You pitch in where you need to,” she says, adding that she probably learned more about the intersection of business and law during this period of time than her entire career before this point.

Last year, Yoon joined the Financial Markets and Funds practice at Katten where she focuses her practice on assisting clients with navigating the legal, regulatory and operational aspects for their FinTech offerings and products.

Practicing law has been much more exciting for Yoon as many of her clients are on the cutting edge of technology and trying to operate in a space with a great deal of legal and regulatory uncertainty. “It’s a journey we are on together and it’s gratifying when my clients can articulate the value I bring. They say things like, ‘You really get it. You’re going beyond giving legal advice and thinking about the strategy. We enjoy working with you because you don’t just tell us no, but instead you help us understand the risks using the lens of our specific business model,’” Yoon says.

Mentoring the Next Generation

Yoon seizes any chance she can to serve as a mentor. One message she always tries to impart is that networking should be a thread that weaves throughout your career. “It’s never too early to start,” she tells younger professionals. Even today when most networking is virtual, there are numerous ways to reach out, including being visible on LinkedIn by sharing updates or chiming in with your opinions and experiences.

One of the places she is able to reach younger women is through her work on the advisory council of the GlamourGals Foundation, which fosters intergenerational connections between teen leaders and seniors to alleviate the issue of elder isolation, while offering networking sessions and leadership conferences to volunteers.

Yoon is part of many diverse groups and networks where the primary goal is to make sure there is proper diverse representation on boards, at conferences and in open positions. Since emerging tech is largely a male-dominated field, she likes to lead by example in the space, which is why she focuses on mentoring. “While I’ve always had terrific mentors and sponsors, I had always hoped there would be more opportunities to meet people from diverse backgrounds,” she says. “I appreciate I can be that person for others.”

by Cathie Ericson

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Voice of Experience: Kelly Hutchinson, Special Counsel, Katten

Kelly HutchinsonKelly Hutchinson cannot stress enough to young professionals the importance of networking with their peer group.

“I tell young people that there is a counterpart to your role across the table, and you should get to know them because they will rise in their careers as you do in yours,” she said. As Hutchinson, a member of Katten’s Government and Public Finance practice group, points out, “You might not have a connection to the director but you might have one with the analyst, and eventually he or she will become the Managing Director, or Issuer, and you will have a great relationship that you forged many years ago.”

She also believes that employees at a junior level should realize the value they can bring every day. For example, a supervisor might not have time to read a wide variety of articles related to their industry, but more junior staff members often do have time, so they should so that they can educate themselves and contribute valuable insight to the discussion.

Finding Opportunities in Down Times

Hutchinson attended Pomona College in Southern California where she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in media studies. While in college, she attended the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College’s Business Bridge Program, a four-week immersive summer program with experiential project-based learning and personalized coaching and career development. The experience set Hutchinson on a career path that led her to become an investment banking analyst in the oil and gas industry.

A few years later, Hutchinson enrolled in Tulane University Law School in New Orleans. But the year before she was set to graduate, the disastrous Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005, forcing her to flee the city and the university to close for months. Hutchinson returned to Chicago where she finished classes as a visiting student at Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law.

While in law school, Hutchinson started working for a financial advisory firm and coincidentally found herself at Katten, working with attorneys there, on her first day. After graduation, she stayed on with them for more than 10 years, advising large municipalities on bond financing and eventually serving as director and chief compliance officer.

During the financial crisis, Hutchinson found that opportunities were available to really dig in and become known as a problem solver. She was offered the chance to work for the State of Illinois as director of capital markets to manage debt issuances and the debt portfolio. That was in 2015, during a time when the when the state was in the midst of an unprecedented budget impasse. Hutchinson found herself in the right spot to navigate complicated problems that were similar to others she had handled in previous positions.

“I believe the best time for public service is when your expertise will be valuable,” she says. “Every day I could go in and add value.”

Her first year in that role, Hutchinson conducted seven public market transactions totaling nearly $3 billion right before she gave birth to her first child. All in, she spent 3-1/2 years with the State, managing $30 billion of debt and raising over $10 billion of debt in the capital market. In May, she joined Katten, where she is familiar with many of its attorneys in the municipal bonds market and can leverage her transaction experience, making for an easy transition to this, her next chapter. “I decided it was time to try another spot at the table, providing counsel from a different perspective,” she explains.

Control Your Destiny

All those experiences have shown Hutchinson that the only thing you can control is what you do—you can’t take ownership of how people see you and want to interact with you, but you can take charge of how you present yourself and live according to your values.

Part of that is merely showing up and taking advantage of opportunities, she says. “As a minority, you’re taught to put your head down and work hard, but you also need to take that extra step of making an effort to be present at meetings and social events and getting out to know your clients,” she says.

She predicts a long career, given that her late great uncle was an attorney who didn’t stop going to court until he was 95 years old. For now, Hutchinson enjoys her time with her 3-year-old son, especially appreciating the times that they travel together. “I want him to be a citizen of the world so we take one international trip a year,” she says.

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Voice of Experience: Constance A. Fratianni, Special Counsel, Katten

Constance FratianniAs a practicing lawyer since 1985, Connie Fratianni has seen a wide variety of cycles and changes.

But one thing that has not changed is the need for women to do more to mentor the women who are coming up. “We can’t forget where we came from; there are still too many women who are of the view that ‘no one helped me so I’m not going to help them,’ but that is the wrong attitude for all of us.”

As a member of Katten’s Women’s Leadership Forum (WLF), Fratianni herself tries to inspire young women attorneys. She believes that part of what has made her career so fulfilling is the bond she has developed with others in her firm, whether they worked together on the same deal or if they practiced in an area of law other than commercial finance. “That’s one of the great things about WLF; the opportunity to socialize with women outside of your own practice area. I encourage young women to take part in it.”

Juggling Responsibilities and Achieving Success

After graduating from University of Michigan School of Law, Fratianni had planned to work at a law firm in its real estate group for a couple years and then figured she would move on to a real estate company. But life didn’t quite go according to plan. She joined a law firm and found that she was doing interesting work with people whom she enjoyed. She was given the opportunity to use her broad legal knowledge to handle various transactions from bankruptcy and restructurings, to investment grade credit agreements to film financings among other interesting pursuits.

Along the way Fratianni had four children and subsequently became one of the first part-time partners at a previous firm, which is an achievement she is particularly proud of.

“I learned that it was about managing expectations; you can control the hours to a degree, but the only way you will develop your practice is by being there to serve. In that way, practicing law prepared me for motherhood, and motherhood helped me practice law better,” Fratianni says.

“The combination was both professionally and personally fulfilling. One of the things I find most gratifying was a former colleague who came up to me at an event and mentioned what an impact I had on her career many years ago. There’s nothing like seeing people I’ve mentored succeed.” Fratianni pivoted to various roles, including the global compliance attorney of a law firm, before deciding to join Katten in 2018 in its New York office.

Forging Your Own Path

Fratianni notes that success can be defined in many ways, and everyone needs to determine what that means for him or herself. “If you define success as making partner after eight years, well then, by that definition, I am a failure. In part because of my four maternity leaves, it took me longer to make partner but I eventually made it. I have four amazing kids and work I am proud of and have fun doing. To me, that is the definition of success.”

Even so, she adds that law school teaches the fundamentals but real world experience is invaluable. “It’s a harder road than it looks, and there’s always so much to learn,” she says.

Success comes from remaining true to yourself and not being afraid to speak up if your instincts tell you something is right or wrong, she says.

A Philanthropic Heart

In addition to her professional success, Fratianni finds fulfillment with philanthropic endeavors. In fact, one of her proudest achievements was working on a pro bono project to incorporate Operation Dreamseed as a tax-exempt nonprofit organization with a mission to provide school supplies to children in Afghanistan. Operation Dreamseed, founded by an Army captain, also rebuilt a school there in partnership with another philanthropic organization.

That heart for others extends to her children — two sons and two daughters who are in various life stages. Her oldest son is in his second year of a medical residency; a daughter is a special effects editor; her youngest son is a management consultant; and her youngest daughter is pursuing a nursing degree.

Deeply involved in her children’s education and activities, Fratianni helped organize hands on activities at her firm’s “take your child to work day.” She also created the role of “Working Parent Liaison” in her local PTA. In that role, she encouraged more parent friendly events at the school that were convenient for all parents working outside the home. As a Girl Scout leader, she was instrumental in starting “Operation Cookie” in her local Girl Scout council, which annually ships tens of thousands of boxes of Girl Scout cookies to service men and women overseas. “I was lucky to have healthy, self-starting kids and a supportive staff and family,” she says. “Don’t be afraid to ask for help and realize that both personal and professional fulfillment is possible.”

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