OVERVIEW
Katie Beran, a partner in Hausfeld’s Philadelphia office, is Co‑Chair of the firm’s Public Entity and Environmental & Product Liability Practice Groups and serves as Hausfeld’s U.S. Business Development Partner. Her practice focuses on pursuing justice for plaintiffs in environmental, antitrust, consumer protection, and human rights litigation. Katie has represented a diverse array of clients, including public entities seeking treatment costs for contaminated water and other natural resources, small businesses challenging entrenched Big Tech monopolies, and families unlawfully separated under the federal government’s Family Separation Policy.
As Co-Chair of the Public Entity Practice, Katie co-leads the firm’s deep bench of attorneys representing public entities in environmental, antitrust, consumer protection, and affirmative firearm litigation. Examples include:
- The first-in-the-nation case on behalf of one of the largest public water suppliers in the country, seeking to hold chemical manufacturers responsible for decades-long release of 1,4-dioxane into groundwater, as well as the first statewide case against those same companies;
- Antitrust and consumer protection civil enforcement actions on behalf of states and cities challenging unlawful conspiracies and deceptive marketing practices; and
- Lawsuits on behalf of cities and states to hold the firearm industry accountable for deceptive marketing, the proliferation of unlawful ghost guns, and the industry’s failure to implement reasonable controls to reduce preventable gun violence.
Katie has received numerous accolades in recognition of her unique practice representing individual, public entity, and corporate clients in high‑stakes litigation across several practice areas. She has been named an “On the Rise – Top 40 Young Lawyer” in the country by the American Bar Association, ranked by Chambers and Partners as Band 1, Litigation: Mainly Plaintiff (Pennsylvania), and named to Benchmark Litigation’s “40 & Under Hot List.” Her litigation accomplishments have also been recognized by The National Law Journal, Lawdragon, Global Competition Review, Pennsylvania Super Lawyers, The Legal Intelligencer, and the Philadelphia Bar Foundation, among others.
In addition to her litigation work, Katie leads the firm’s business development efforts in the United States, overseeing new case investigations and evaluations across all U.S. offices. She also maintains a robust pro bono practice. Katie regularly represents participants in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania’s Supervision to Aid Reentry Program in civil legal matters and oversees the firm’s pro bono partnerships with several non‑profit organizations at the forefront of racial equality and environmental justice.
As a founding member of Hausfeld’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee, Katie is deeply committed to ensuring that the firm creates an environment where everyone can thrive. She is also a member of the firm’s Hiring Committee and Pro Bono Committee.
Before joining the firm, Katie served as a federal law clerk to the Honorable Gerald A. McHugh in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania during the first two years of Judge McHugh’s tenure on the bench. She resides in South Philadelphia with her husband and two children.
EDUCATION
University of Pennsylvania Law School, cum laude, 2012
American University, magna cum laude, 2009
BAR ADMISSIONS
Pennsylvania
New Jersey
U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Pennsylvania
U.S. District Court, New Jersey
U.S. District Court, Western District of Michigan
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
AFFILIATIONS
American Bar Association – Antitrust Law Section Influence Task Force, Appointed Member (2022-2023)
American Bar Association, Antitrust Law Section Legislation Committee, Previously Vice Chair (2017-2022)
American Bar Foundation, Fellow
Firearms Accountability Initiative, Board of Advisors
Jewish Social Policy Action Network, Vice President (2014-2018)
Pennsylvania Association for Justice
Philadelphia Bar Association
Philadelphia Bar Foundation
Temple University Beasley School of Law, Federal Reentry Court Clinic Adjunct Professor, (2015-2016)
United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, Judicial Law Clerk to the Honorable Gerald A. McHugh (2014-2016)
University of Pennsylvania Law School, Legal Writing Instructor, (2011-2012)
WHAT OTHERS SAY
American Bar Association
- On the Rise – Top 40 Young Lawyer in 2020
Benchmark Litigation
- 40 & Under List since 2023
- Antitrust/Competition
Chambers and Partners
- Up and Comer, Antitrust - Pennsylvania in 2026
- Band 1, Litigation: Mainly Plaintiff - Pennsylvania since 2025
Global Competition Review
- Litigation of the Year – Non Cartel Prosecution in 2023: an honor she received as part of the In re Google Play Developer Antitrust Litigation case team
International Municipal Lawyers Association
- Amicus Service Award in 2026
Lawdragon
- The Green 500: Leaders in Environmental Law - Plaintiff Environmental Litigation & Justice since 2021
- Leading Plaintiff Consumer Lawyers since 2022
- Leading Environmental & Energy Lawyer in 2021
- 500 Leading Litigators in America in 2022
Legal Intelligencer
- Lawyer on the Fast Track in 2017
National Law Journal
- Energy & Environmental Trailblazer in 2018
Super Lawyers
- Rising Star, Antitrust Litigation and Environmental Litigation in Philadelphia since 2018
Other
- Pro Bono Award of the Philadelphia Bar Foundation: an honor received by Katie and the firm's Philadelphia office in 2019.
- Recognized Community Partner Award: an honor given by the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania for her valuable contributions to the Supervision to Aid Reentry Program (STAR) program in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania in 2019.
- Pro Bono Supervisor Award: an award given by the Penn Law Toll Public Interest Center for her work with Federal Reentry Court Clinic students in 2016.
Disclaimer: The Legal Intelligencer Lawyers on the Fast Track list is issued by American Lawyer Media (ALM); a description of the selection methodology can be found here. The Pennsylvania Super Lawyers Rising Stars list is issued by Thomson Reuters; a description of the selection methodology can be found here. The National Law Journal’s Energy and Environmental Trailblazers list is issued by ALM; a description of the selection methodology can be found here. No aspect of this advertisement has been approved by the Supreme Court of New Jersey.
PUBLICATIONS
Katie's other publications include:
-
- "Recent Third Circuit Product-Hopping Case Warrants Rehearing," Lexology (Nov. 16, 2016), Author
- "Revisiting the Prostitution Debate: Uniting Liberal & Radical Feminism in Pursuit of Policy Reform, Law and Inequality: A Journal of Theory and Practice," University of Minnesota Law Journal, Volume 30, Issue 1 (2012)
- "Nowhere to Fall: Facing the Economic Crisis in the U.S," Z Magazine (Oct. 2009) Co-Author with Professor Celine-Marie Pascale
NEWS
EVENTS
- "A New Rulebook? Key Trends in Transatlantic Public and Private Enforcement," Hausfeld LLP & Oxera hosted client event (March 26, 2026), Panelist
- "Plaintiffs' Power: Women Leading the Fight for Justice," University of Pennsylvania, Penn Plaintiff's Law Association (March 2025), Panelist
- “Meaningful Mentorship,” University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School (August 2024), Panelist
- “Bringing Invisible Inequity to the Forefront,” University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School (January 2024), Panelist
- “Hot Topics in Antitrust and Consumer Protection,” ABA Antitrust Law Section (June 2023), Panelist
- Climate Change & Litigation: Now and In the Future, Everlaw Webinar (April 2022), Panelist
- "Climate Change," 4th Annual Class Action Money & Ethics Conference (Sept. 2020), Panelist
- "Careers in Antitrust," ABA Section of Antitrust Law Program: Rutgers Law School (Nov. 2019), Panelist
- "Climate Change Litigation: To Be or Not To Be?" Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas Civil Conversations CJE Program (June, 2019), Panelist
- "Healthcare & Pharma Regulation Through Antitrust Legislation," ABA Section of Antitrust Law Legislation Committee Program (April 2019), Moderator
- "Successful Reentry: Innovative Programs to Reduce Recidivism and Reform the Criminal Justice System, Pursuing Justice 2016," Bend the Arc’s First National Conference (June 2016), Moderator
- "Transformative Lawyering, Community Partnerships and the Power of Reentry Court," 2nd Annual Conference for Integrating Spirituality, Law and Politics, Drexel University Thomas R. Kline School of Law (June 2016), Panelist
Experience
Chambers US, 2026She is the go-to person for case development.
Chambers US, 2026When difficult strategic issues arise, she never fails to demonstrate exceptional judgment, and is always cool under pressure.
Chambers US, 2026Katie Beran stands out for her professional demeanor and for being very knowledgeable.
Chambers US, 2026Katie is a brilliant and hard-working lawyer and, more often than not, her initial instinct proves to be right.