Kate Philpott

Kate Philpott

Special Counsel - Consultant
Curriculum Vitae
Kate Philpott is a scientific and legal consultant specializing in strategic litigation related to the forensic sciences. In that role she advises individuals and organizations with respect to case-specific and systemic forensic issues and trains attorneys, investigators and forensic analysts regarding the same.

Previously, she was the forensic staff attorney for the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia, and before that, a litigation associate at Covington & Burling. Philpott is also engaged in forensic reform efforts through her participation in the Human Factors Subcommittee of the National Commission on Forensic Science and the Forensic Disciplines Committee of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. She is involved in ongoing academic research into (and has published on) new techniques for processing forensic biological mixtures.

Philpott graduated with high honors from the College of William and Mary with a degree in biology, and with highest honors from Virginia Commonwealth University with a master's degree in forensic science. She received her law degree from Virginia, where she received a Public Interest Law Association grant to work at the United States Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia and was a member of the Virginia Law Review.