2024 Up & Coming Attorneys: Katherine A. Cochran

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LARKIN HOFFMAN DALY  & LINDGREN LTD.

When Katherine Cochran was a college junior, a friend heading out to take the LSAT exam invited her to tag along. Cochran, too, took the exam, went to Mitchell Hamline School of Law, passed the bar and eventually found herself at Larkin Hoffman Daly & Lindgren Ltd.

“Talent, courage, and zeal are characteristics of great litigators. When all three of these characteristics are prominent in just five years of practice, it is a rare thing to behold,” said Heidi Bassett, a litigator at Larkin Hoffman. “Kate Cochran exemplifies all of these. … It takes great courage to walk into a shareholder’s office and ask to take the lead on a case, but she never shies away.”

Where does all that gumption come from?

“It comes from my mom,” Cochran said, “a 5-foot-zero sassy lady. She always tells me, ‘Closed mouths don’t get fed. You have to advocate for yourself, be your own cheerleader.’” It also comes from mentors, like Bassett, who taught Cochran, “You won’t always be the smartest person in the room, but you’ll be the most prepared, and you’ll know the facts and the law better than your opponents.”

Cochran likes the variety of matters she handles. For example, she’s litigated breach of contract, lease disputes, negligence and deceptive trade practices for large and small businesses. She has handled more depositions and argued more motions than most attorneys at her level in the firm.

“I am not afraid to roll up my sleeves and dive into learning a case I know nothing about,” she said.

She mentors and encourages other lawyers. And her most satisfying pro bono case: winning a Court of Appeals ruling for a Somali landlord who’d been sued for evicting a racist tenant.