Biography

Catherine Dixon is a partner in Weil’s Washington, D.C. office and a recognized authority on the federal securities laws, as amended over the past decade by the JOBS Act of 2012, the Dodd-Frank Act of 2010 and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. Her practice encompasses public and private company disclosure advice, capital markets transactions (including public and private offerings), mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance and compliance-related matters. Catherine is a member of Weil’s Public Company Advisory Group.
Prior to joining Weil, Catherine was Chief Counsel of the Division of Corporation Finance at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). She previously served as Chief of that Division’s Offices of Mergers & Acquisitions and Disclosure Policy (rulemaking), respectively, and as Counsel to SEC Commissioner Steven M.H. Wallman. She also served as a trial attorney in the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (through the Department’s Honors Program), before joining the SEC in the appellate litigation section of the Office of the General Counsel.
Catherine frequently speaks and writes on various federal securities laws topics and is a regular contributor to Weil’s Governance & Securities Watch. She is co-author of a well-known treatise on the federal proxy rules, Aranow and Einhorn on Proxy Contests for Corporate Control (3d ed., with Randall Thomas). Catherine also has taught a course on mergers & acquisitions at Georgetown University Law School, as an adjunct faculty member. She is the immediate former Chair, and a current member, of the American Bar Association (ABA) Business Law Section's Committee on Federal Regulation of Securities, after serving successive terms as Committee Vice-Chair, Chair and Vice-Chair of the Committee’s Securities Registration Subcommittee and Co-Chair of this Committee’s Ad Hoc Task Force on Cross-Border Mergers & Acquisitions. Catherine is also a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation, and is a member of the ABA Business Law Section’s Publication Board.
Catherine has been recognized as a “Best Lawyer” for Corporate Compliance Law, Corporate Governance Law, Securities/Capital Markets Law and Securities Regulation (2007-2022) and was named “Lawyer of the Year” for Corporate Compliance (2017) in Washington, D.C. by Best Lawyers in America. She has also been recognized by Who’s Who Legal in Governance and M&A (2013-2020) and Super Lawyers in Securities and Corporate Finance (2020, 2015, 2014, 2013).
Catherine received her J.D., magna cum laude, and her B.S., cum laude, from Creighton University. After law school, Catherine clerked for the Honorable William C. Stuart, Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa, and the Honorable Henry A. Politz, Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. She is a member of the District of Columbia and Iowa Bar Associations.
Awards and Recognition, Speaking Engagements, Latest Thinking, Firm News & Announcements
Awards and Recognition
- Catherine Dixon Named “Best Lawyer” for Corporate Compliance Law, Corporate Governance Law, Securities/Capital Markets Law and Securities Law in Washington, D.C. Award Brief — Best Lawyers in America 2007– 2022 (Best Lawyers (in America) is by Levine Leichtman Capital Partners)
-
Catherine Dixon Recognized for Securities and Corporate Finance
Award Brief —
Super Lawyers
Catherine Dixon Recognized for Securities and Corporate Finance ...
-
Catherine Dixon Recognized in Governance and M&A
Award Brief —
Who's Who Legal
Catherine Dixon Recognized in Governance and M&A ...
- Catherine Dixon Named 2017 “Lawyer of the Year” for Corporate Compliance Law in Washington, D.C. Award Brief — Best Lawyers in America
Speaking Engagements
-
Federal Regulation of Securities Luncheon
Speaker(s):
Catherine T. Dixon
April 6, 2013 — Washington, DC — Weil Public Company Advisory Group partner Catherine Dixon is chairing the Federal Regulation of Securities Luncheon. The luncheon is part of the American Bar Association Business Law Section 2013 Spring Meeting, a three-day event in Washington, DC.
-
Latest Developments in SEC Implementation of the JOBS Act of 2012
Speaker(s):
Catherine T. Dixon
April 5, 2013 — Washington, DC — Weil Public Company Advisory Group partner Catherine Dixon is chairing the American Bar Association Committee on the Federal Regulation of Securities’ program entitled “Dialogue with the Director of the SEC Division of Corporation Finance and Senior Staff.” Ms. Dixon is chair of the ABA Committee on the Federal Regulation of Securities. The program is part of the ABA Business Law Section 2013 Spring Meeting, a three-day event in Washington, DC.
Latest Thinking
- Disclosure Developments and 2022 Form 10-K Disclosure Locator Alert — Governance & Securities — By Howard B. Dicker, Catherine T. Dixon, P.J. Himelfarb, Shira Barron and Julie Rong — PDF — January 2023
- Heads Up for the 2023 Proxy Season: Key Disclosure and Engagement Topics Alert — Governance & Securities — By Howard B. Dicker, Lyuba Goltser, Kaitlin Descovich, Catherine T. Dixon, P.J. Himelfarb and Adé Heyliger — PDF — January 19, 2023
- SEC Adopts No Fault Executive Compensation Clawback Rules for Listed Companies: Covers “little r” Restatements Alert — Governance & Securities — By P.J. Himelfarb, Lyuba Goltser, Howard B. Dicker and Shira Barron — PDF — November 01, 2022
- SEC Partially Rescinds Its Rules Relating to the Provision of Proxy Voting Advice Alert — Governance & Securities — By Catherine T. Dixon and Howard B. Dicker — PDF — August 15, 2022
- SEC Proposes Changes to Shareholder Proposal Rule 14a-8 Alert — Governance & Securities — By Adé Heyliger and Bianca Lazar — PDF — July 22, 2022
Firm News & Announcements
- Weil Advised TPG Growth in its Acquisition of a Majority Stake in Morrow Sodali Deal Brief — April 26, 2022