B.A. — University of Kentucky 1992, Honors History
Law Degree — Guildhill University, 1993, class rank 2nd of 97
Katy Banahan grew up in Lexington, Kentucky. She attended the University of Kentucky where she watched a lot of excellent basketball games and obtained an honors degree in history in 1984.
In September 1984, she went to London, England on a three-month post-graduate study program. Partly in love with London, partly unsure how to get back to the airport, she stayed for 16 years. She worked as a paralegal in London from 1984 until entering law school in 1989. She graduated from London Guildhall University School of Law in 1993, and was admitted as a lawyer in the United Kingdom in 1993, having passed her UK bar exams with honors.
Katy practiced law in London for seven years, limiting her practice to family law and criminal defense work. While practicing in London, she was appointed to the Children’s Panel, a group of lawyers specially chosen by the court to represent children in complex family law cases. She also taught accredited continuing education courses for attorneys in both family law and criminal defense work. Homesick for America but thouroughly acclimatized to damp grey weather, she relocated to Seattle. She was admitted to the Washington State Bar in 2002. She is a member of the Washington State Bar Association Family Law Section and a volunteer for the Northwest Womens Law Center.
Katy’s law practice emphasizes family law and real estate litigation.
Katy used to enjoy travel, cinema, and cross country skiing but these have joyously taken a back seat to Katy’s son, Patrick.
