Kate N. Dodoo

Kate Dodoo is an experienced appellate, trial and labor and employment lawyer who leads both the firm’s Appellate Group and Immigration and Compliance Group, representing businesses in appellate litigation and serving  as business immigration counsel for major U.S.-based corporations with global operations, and foreign-owned companies with business interests in the United States.

As a member of the firm’s Labor & Employment Group, Kate most frequently draws upon her immigration experience to assist clients in obtaining employment-related visas for their employees entering the United States to work across all industries, including healthcare, technology, and education. She also provides guidance to employers on E-Verify, I-9 compliance, and audits. Her experience also includes counseling employers on various aspects of labor and employment matters.

In the appellate and litigation arena, Kate draws upon her broad spectrum of experience to represent clients in administrative proceedings and before state and federal trial and appellate courts in a wide range of civil litigation. Kate’s achievements have earned her inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America (commercial litigation).

Kate frequently serves as a guest legal columnist for The Journal Record and is a contributing author to Law360, the Oklahoma Employment Law Letter, Midwest Employment Law Letter, HRlaws.com, and EmployerLINC.

Prior to joining McAfee & Taft in 2021, Kate devoted the first 15 years of her legal career to public service at the federal, state, and municipal levels. The Oklahoma native most recently served as an assistant chief counsel in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Office of the Principal Legal Advisor. There, Kate litigated a high volume of complex immigration removal proceedings, including those against alleged criminals, terrorists, and human rights abusers. In addition, she maintained a robust appellate practice before the Board of Immigration Appeals. Her prior career experience also includes serving as the assistant city attorney to the City of Enid and as an appellate attorney to the Honorable Tom Colbert of the Oklahoma Supreme Court for 12 years. While there, she provided procedural and substantive legal advice and drafted an extensive number of precedent-setting, published decisions adjudicating complex civil cases arising under the Oklahoma Supreme Court’s appellate and original jurisdictions.

Kate has completed advanced training from the National Institute for Trial Advocacy (NITA), Appellate Judge Education Institute (AJEI), Institute of Special Education Advocacy (ISEA) at the William & Mary School of Law and Stetson University School of Law, School-Justice Partnerships Program from the Georgetown University School of Public Policy (CJJR), and the Police Legal Advisor Training Program (PLATP) at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC).

Kate has remained a committed community volunteer while maintaining an active professional and family life. Over the years, she has devoted her time to enhancing education opportunities for at-risk and special needs youth through the Oklahoma Children’s Court Improvement Program, coaching the Frederick Douglass Moot Court teams at the Oklahoma City University School of Law, mentoring law students participating in the Oklahoma Supreme Court’s internship programs, and serving the boards of the Law and Public Safety Career Academy of Douglass High School, the YWCA, and Youth Opportunity Task Force. In 2017, Kate was nominated for the YWCA’s Social Justice Activator Award and subsequently recognized as an “Oklahoma Shero” by the State of Oklahoma.