Katten's Kimberly T. Smith and Susan Light Named 2025 Women of Influence in Chicago and New York

(NEW YORK) Katten announced today that Corporate Department Global Chair Kimberly T. Smith and Broker-Dealer Regulation Co-Chair Susan Light were honored as 2025 Women of Influence in the Chicago and New York Business Journals, respectively.

"We are immensely proud to congratulate Kim and Sue on their distinction as the extraordinary women we’ve long known them to be," said Katten Chairman Gil Soffer. "Both exemplify the best of our firm and our profession — exceptional legal skill, visionary leadership and unswerving commitment to our clients and communities."

With a focus on professionals who "innovate, succeed and pay it forward," The Business Journals annually select 10 Women of Influence in several cities from a cross-section of industries, including finance, real estate, engineering and law.

As global chair of Katten's Corporate department, Smith, who is a member of the firm's Executive Committee and Board of Directors, leads nearly 150 attorneys across the United States, London and China, advising on matters of mergers and acquisitions (M&A), private equity (PE), capital markets, public finance and health care, among others.

Smith is widely recognized for leading complex M&A transactions for PE funds, family offices and other clients as well as her deft handling of leveraged buyouts, acquisitions and joint ventures across multiple industries. In January, she was named among the Most Influential Women in Mid-Market M&A by Mergers & Acquisitions magazine for the fifth consecutive year. In August, Smith was named by Crain's Chicago Business to its 2025 list of Notable M&A Dealmakers. She is on the corporate board of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Chicago and a founding member of the organization's guild board.

Light joined Katten after more than 30 years as a senior regulatory officer at both the New York Stock Exchange and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). Named among the Crain's New York Business Notable Women in Law, she was honored as "Best Mentor" at the New York Law Journal’s 2025 New York Legal Awards and selected for Katten’s John P. Sieger Excellence in Mentoring Award in 2024.

As co-chair of the firm's Broker-Dealer practice, Light leads a seasoned team of attorneys counseling a range of market participants. She advises large and small broker-dealers, investment banks and other financial services providers, clarifying the regulatory landscape, designing procedures to avoid regulatory problems, conducting internal investigations and resolving investigations and enforcement actions.