Cathleen M. Shrader

Focusing on appellate practice and complex business litigation, Cathleen Shrader has extensive experience in civil litigation. She is experienced in representing clients at all levels of the appellate process; at representing businesses in contract, warranty, intellectual property, and other disputes; and at representing trustees, beneficiaries, and personal representatives in complex estate and trust disputes.

Cathleen has been listed in the Best Lawyers in America® publication for Appellate Practice and Commercial Litigation since 2012 and in the Super Lawyers® publication for Business Litigation since 2013. She has been recognized by Martindale-Hubbell as an AV® Preeminent™ rated attorney based on peer review and judicial ratings.

In 2010, the Indiana Supreme Court appointed Cathleen to the ten-member Indiana State Board of Law Examiners. The Board of Law Examiners is responsible for the licensing of attorneys in the state of Indiana. She was President of the Board from 2016 – 2019, served as Vice President and Board Secretary. Her third term ends in December 2022. In 2019, she was appointed to and served on the Indiana Supreme Court’s Study Commission on the Future of the Indiana Bar Exam.

From 2018 – 2020, Cathleen served as a member of the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination Committee of the National Conference of Bar Examiners, a committee charged with working closely with NCBE staff to perpetuate and develop policies intended to assure the psychometric reliability, validity, and security of the MPRE. In 2020, the National Conference of Bar Examiners appointed Cathleen to its Multistate Essay Examination/Multistate Performance Test Committee for the 2020-2021 year.

Cathleen is a member of the Indiana State Bar Association (ISBA), has chaired the ISBA’s Appellate Practice Section, (2006-2007), and was vice chair of the ISBA’s Lawyer Advertising Rules Committee from 2017 – 2019. Cathleen is also a member of the Allen County Bar Association and has chaired that association’s Appellate Practice Section. She is a member of and former president the American Inns of Court, Benjamin Harrison Chapter. Cathleen is a member of the Amicus Committee of the Defense Trial Counsel of Indiana. She is a frequent speakers on issues relating to appellate practice and on issues relating to lawyer advertising, ethics, and social media.

Since 2010, Cathleen has been the representative of the Indiana State Bar Association on the nonpartisan Indiana Debate Commission (IDC), the oldest incorporated and independent debate group in the nation which is dedicated to promoting state-wide political debates in Indiana. She is currently the Vice President.

In 1990, Cathleen graduated cum laude from Indiana University School of Business with a B.S. in Business Economics. In 1994, she received her J.D. from Duke University, where she served as Research Editor for the Duke Law Journal.

Cathleen is admitted to practice before the Indiana state courts, the United States Supreme Court, the United States Courts of Appeal for the Sixth, Seventh, and Eleventh Circuits, and the United States District Courts for the Northern and Southern Districts of Indiana and the Western District of Michigan.