Katelyn B. Girod

Kat Girod joined the firm as an associate in 2023, practicing in the firm’s Business practice group. Kat assists the firm’s clients with estate planning, tax, and business matters.

Kat earned a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and a Certificate in the Study and Practice of Leadership from the University of Colorado. She earned her Juris Doctor from the University of Kansas School of Law in 2023. At KU Law, Kat mentored first-year students as a Dean’s Fellow, served on the Kansas Law Review, volunteered at the VITA Tax Clinic, and served as Secretary of the Business & Tax Law Society. During her second year, she served as a Chambers Intern for the Honorable Judge Daniel Crabtree at the District of Kansas. And, Kat participated in Moot Court with a focus in Bankruptcy. Along with her partner, Kat advanced to the quarterfinals of the National Duberstein Bankruptcy Moot Court competition in 2023, won Best Oralist and the 2023 Shapero Cup Bankruptcy Moot Court Regional competition sponsored by the Sixth Circuit, and advanced to the finals in the 2022 American College of Bankruptcy Seventh Circuit Moot Court competition.

Kat was a Jayhawk Scholar, graduated Order of the Coif, and received four CALI awards recognizing the highest grade in a class. In 2023 she received the inaugural Bruce R. Hopkins Award for Nonprofit Excellence which recognizes KU law students who have demonstrated academic excellence in the field of tax-exempt and non-profit law, made a notable written contribution to the field, or provided distinguished student service to the nonprofit sector. Kat graduated with Pro Bono Distinction, and received the Samuel Mellinger Scholarship, Leadership, and Service Award, which recognizes the student who has most distinguished themselves in the combined areas of scholarship, leadership, and service.

Before pursuing law as a second career, Kat worked in public education at Olathe Public Schools, in early childhood education with Early Head Start in Wyandotte County, and in homelessness prevention through various nonprofits. While working in Olathe, Kat volunteered with KC BizFest from 2015 to 2020. Working with KC BizFest ignited Kat’s passion for working with small, local, and family-owned businesses. Today, Kat holds business owners in high esteem as important pillars of a healthy community.

Kat is proficient in written and verbal Spanish. In her free time, she sees her family, serves on the Advisory Board for the Greater Kansas City Hispanic Development Fund, gets outdoors with her Staffie-Lab Mix, cooks without recipes, and reads.