Cathy O’Kelly

Cathy G. O’Kelly is a member of the Board of Directors of Vedder Price. As a member of the firm’s Investment Services group, her practice includes representation of mutual funds and their boards of directors, money managers, broker-dealers, banks, insurance companies and other financial institutions in connection with investment company, investment adviser, broker-dealer and insurance product matters, including securities, regulatory, product design and transaction counseling.

Ms. O’Kelly counsels boards of directors of investment companies, and in particular independent directors, on their special responsibilities.

Ms. O’Kelly began her legal career with the Securities and Exchange Commission in Washington, DC, where she worked on the Investment Company Act Special Study and served as Special Counsel in the Division of Investment Management until 1983.

Ms. O’Kelly is co-author of an article published in the DePaul Business Journal entitled “Soft Dollars and Other Traps for the Investment Adviser: An Analysis of Brokerage Placement Practices.” She is a member of the Chicago Bar Association, for which she served as Chair of the Investment Company Subcommittee. Ms. O’Kelly is also a trustee of the John Marshall Law School and the College of William and Mary Foundation.

The Legal 500 United States guide recommends Ms. O’Kelly in the Investment Fund Formation and Management—Mutual/ Registered Funds category, and she received an “AV Preeminent” Peer Rating in Martindale-Hubbell. Ms. O’Kelly was selected for inclusion from 2012 to 2015 in Illinois Super Lawyers and was named one of the “Top Women Attorneys in Illinois” in 2013. She was ranked by Chambers USA in the Nationwide Investment Funds: Registered Funds section in 2014 and has also been selected by her peers from 2013 to 2014 as a Leading Lawyer in Corporate Finance.

Bar Admissions

• District of Columbia, 1978
• Virginia, 1978
• Illinois, 1989

Affiliations

Past Chair, Investment Company Subcommittee, Chicago Bar Association