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. Ms. Dixon is a member of Weil’s Public Company Advisory Group.
Prior to joining Weil, Ms. Dixon 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.
Ms. Dixon frequently speaks and writes on various federal securities laws topics. 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). Ms. Dixon 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. Ms. Dixon is also a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation, and is a member of the ABA Business Law Section’s Publication Board.
Ms. Dixon was named 2017 “Lawyer of the Year” for Corporate Compliance Law in Washington, D.C. by Best Lawyers in America where she has been recognized as a leading lawyer for Corporate Compliance Law, Corporate Governance Law, Securities / Capital Markets Law and Securities Regulation (2007-2019). She is consistently recognized in such publications as Who’s Who Legal (2013 – 2018, Corporate -- M&A and Governance), Best Lawyers in Washington D.C. (2018, Corporate Governance Law, Corporate Compliance Law and Securities Capital Markets Law) and Washington DC Super Lawyers (2013 – 2015, Securities and Corporate Finance).
Ms. Dixon received her J.D., magna cum laude, and her B.S., cum laude, from Creighton University. After law school, Ms. Dixon 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
Awards and Recognition
- Catherine Dixon Named 2017 “Lawyer of the Year” for Corporate Compliance Law in Washington, DC Award Brief — Best Lawyers in America
- Catherine Dixon Named “Best Lawyer” for Corporate Compliance Law, Corporate Governance Law, Securities/Capital Markets Law and Securities Law in Washington, DC Award Brief — Best Lawyers in America 2019 (Best Lawyers (in America) is by Levine Leichtman Capital Partners)
Speaking Engagements
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45th Annual Securities Regulation Institute
Speaker(s):
Catherine T. Dixon
January 24, 2018 — Coronado, California — Weil’s Public Company Advisory partner Catherine Dixon spoke on a panel titled, “Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Securities Law but Were Never Given the Chance to Ask…,” as part of Northwestern’s 45th Annual Securities Regulation Institute.
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The SASB Foundation Symposium 2017
Speaker(s):
Catherine T. Dixon
November 30, 2017 — New York, New York — Weil’s Public Company Advisory partner Catherine Dixon spoke on a panel titled, “Emerging Legal Issues Relating to Sustainability Disclosures,” as part of The SASB Foundation’s 2017 SASB Symposium.
Latest Thinking
- Financial Reporting in 2019: What Management and the Audit Committee Need to Know (and Ask) Alert — Governance & Securities — By Catherine T. Dixon, Ellen J. Odoner and P.J. Himelfarb — PDF — January 08, 2019
- Key Takeaways from the SEC’s Proxy Process Roundtable: Is Proxy Voting Reform on the Horizon? Alert — Governance & Securities — By Adé Heyliger and Aabha Sharma — PDF — November 20, 2018
- Commonsense Principles 2.0: A Blueprint for U.S. Corporate Governance? Alert — Governance & Securities — By Aabha Sharma and Howard B. Dicker — PDF — October 22, 2018
- What’s New for Q3 Form 10-Q and Future Periodic Reports: SEC Disclosure Update and Simplification Amendments Alert — Governance & Securities — By Catherine T. Dixon and P.J. Himelfarb — PDF — October 12, 2018
- What’s New for the 2019 Proxy Season: Momentum Grows for Proxy Voting Reform and Sustainability Disclosure Alert — Governance & Securities — By Catherine T. Dixon and Aabha Sharma — PDF — October 03, 2018