Catherine van Kampen’s law practice concentrates on class action settlement administration. She manages the firm’s qualified settlement funds and claims administration for settlements achieved by the firm. Catherine is responsible for initiating and managing the claims administration process and working with the Court-appointed claims administrators and investment banks for the benefit of the Classes represented by the firm. Catherine works closely with the firm’s partners to apply for Court approval in various jurisdictions throughout the United States for the disbursement of settlement funds. She regularly interfaces with institutional and retail investors to explain the claims administration process and to assist them with filing their claims.
Catherine also has extensive experience in complex litigation and litigation management, having served as a team leader and overseen attorney teams in many of the firm’s most high-profile cases during the 2008 Financial Crisis. Catherine has worked on more than two dozen high-value cases. Fluent in Dutch, she has served as the lead investigator and led discovery efforts in actions involving international corporations and financial institutions headquartered in Belgium and the Netherlands. She is certified in E-Discovery and Healthcare Compliance.
Prior to joining BLB&G, Catherine focused on complex litigation initiated by institutional investors and the Federal Government. She has worked on litigation and investigations related to regulatory enforcement actions, corporate governance, and compliance matters as well as conducted extensive discovery in English and Dutch in cross-border litigation.
Since attending law school, Catherine has been deeply committed to public and pro bono service to underserved communities. Through her volunteer work, Catherine has been a champion of social change and justice, particularly for immigrant and refugee women and children. As a member of the New York City Bar Association’s United Nations Committee and African Affairs Committee, she spearheaded organizing the highly successful and widely-praised International Law Conference on the Status of Women, Pro Bono Engagement Fair, EPIQ Women Awards and Huntington Her Hero Awards, featuring the Under Secretary and Special Representative to the Secretary General of the United Nations for the Prevention of Violence Against Women, and other prominent, progressive women’s advocates from the New York Legal Community. In recognition of her work, Catherine was appointed Co-Chair of the New York City Bar Association’s United Nations Committee and a Member of the Council for International Affairs in September of 2021.
A committed humanitarian, Catherine was honored as the 2018 Ambassador Medalist at the New Jersey Governor’s Jefferson Awards for Outstanding Public Service for her international humanitarian and pro bono work with refugees. The Jefferson Awards, issued by the Jefferson Awards Foundation that was founded by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, are awarded by state governors and are considered America’s highest honor for public service bestowed by the United States Senate. Catherine was also honored in Princeton, New Jersey, by her high school alma mater, Stuart Country Day School, in its 2018 Distinguished Alumnae Gallery for her humanitarian and pro bono efforts on behalf of Yezidi and Christian women and children afflicted by war in Iraq and Syria. In 2020, Catherine was accepted as a SHESOURCE legal expert advocating for the needs of immigrant and refugee women by the Women’s Media Center, founded by Gloria Steinem, Jane Fonda, and Robin Morgan. In 2021, Catherine was appointed a Global Goals Ambassador for Clean Water and Sanitation by the United Nations Association of the USA, the sister organization of the United Nations Foundation USA founded by Eleanor Roosevelt. She is a recipient of several honors recognizing her pro bono work and commitment to social issues, including an invitation to attend the 2020 Tory Burch Foundation Embrace Ambition Summit and an appointment to the Advisory Board of the National Center for Girls’ Leadership in Princeton, New Jersey, in 2021.
Catherine is an active member of the American Bar Association, American Bar Foundation, New York Bar Association, New York City Bar Association, New Jersey Bar Association, and the National Association of Women Lawyers. In 2020, Catherine was appointed to the New York State Bar Association’s President’s Leadership Development Committee. In 2021, Catherine was appointed to the New Jersey State Bar Association’s Class Actions, International Law and Organizations, and Special Civil Part Committees. In 2022, she was appointed Co-Chair of the New York State Bar Association’s Committee on Leadership Development and Co-Chair of the American Bar Association's International Law Section — Women's Interest Network. Catherine was also appointed a Fellow at the American Bar Foundation in 2022. As part of her pro bono legal work, she serves on two Boards of international NGOs serving refugees and internally displaced persons in the Middle East and Africa and rescuing exploited and trafficked women and girls. Closer to home, Catherine serves as an advisor to minority business owners in the New York City area on legal issues impacting their businesses.
Catherine clerked for the Honorable Mary M. McVeigh in the Superior Court of New Jersey where she was trained as a court-certified mediator. While in law school she interned at the Center for Social Justice’s Immigration Law Clinic at Seton Hall University School of Law. Catherine is a Graduate of the American Inns of Court.