Cate Edwards is a partner in the Washington, D.C. office of Edwards Kirby, LLP.  Cate represents individuals and groups who have been victims of civil rights violations and negligence by corporations.  Her civil rights cases span a wide range of issues, including discrimination based on sexual orientation, failures to accommodate individuals with disabilities, the provision of inadequate medical care by a prison for its inmates, and wrongful police actions.  Cate also works on a variety of cases involving workers’ rights, such as class actions for failure to pay overtime wages, suits for discrimination in the workplace, whistleblower protection matters, and qui tam actions for fraud against the government.  Cate also represents plaintiffs in cases for negligence, including wrongful death, nursing home neglect, and toxic torts.  In 2013, Cate was named a “D.C. Rising Star” by the National Law Journal in recognition of her legal work.

Prior to joining Edwards Kirby, Cate Edwards served as founding partner of Edwards and Eubanks, a public interest law firm located in Washington, D.C. Edwards and Eubanks was formed to fight for the rights and equality of regular, working people.  At Edwards and Eubanks, Cate’s work focused largely on civil rights and civil liberties.  Cate began her legal career as a law clerk for the Honorable Leonie M. Brinkema in the Federal District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia in Alexandria, Virginia.  Following her clerkship, she joined a boutique civil rights law firm in Washington, D.C., where she worked on class action matters and represented clients who suffered discrimination in the workplace.

While in law school, Cate served as a student attorney at the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau, a student-run organization that provided free legal services and dedicated counsel to low-income individuals and families throughout Greater Boston.  She worked primarily with clients facing housing issues, including victims of wrongful eviction, individuals living in uninhabitable conditions, and tenants of bank-foreclosed properties. Cate served as Executive Policy Editor of the Harvard Law and Policy Review, the national law journal of the American Constitution Society, and as Treasurer of the Harvard Law School Democrats. Cate also spent summers working with National Public Radio's Supreme Court correspondent Nina Totenberg, and in the Washington, D.C. offices of Latham & Watkins and Jenner & Block.

In 2011, Cate launched the Elizabeth Edwards Foundation.  The nonprofit foundation honors the memory of Cate’s mother by providing opportunities to students with limited resources and support. Cate is currently President of the Elizabeth Edwards Foundation and Board Member of the Wade Edwards Foundation.  Cate also serves as Ambassador for the Count Us, Know Us, Join Us campaign to help raise awareness for the advanced breast cancer community.