Kathleen Kilanowski is the Partner in the Dallas office of Cagle Pugh. Kate’s practice focuses on matters concerning real estate, community association law, non-profit association governance, restrictive covenant enforcement, foreclosures, title and lienholder disputes, evictions, leasing, receiverships, tax suits, construction defects, municipal ordinance violations, condemnations, secured and unsecured debt collection and post-judgment collections. She is one of the very few Texas attorneys well-versed in mortgage, homeowners’ association and condominium association foreclosures. Kate has represented hundreds of HOAs, banks, lenders and mortgage services in a variety of legal matters and works with plaintiffs and defendants in cases involving real estate, construction, and business litigation. She has 17 years’ experience as a community association lawyer.

Kate is a member of the Dallas Bar Association and previously served as the chair of the Dallas Bar Association’s Real Property Law Section and as a Director of the Dallas Bar Association’s Board of Directors. She is a member of the Dallas Bar Association’s Inaugural Class of DBA WE LEAD: Women Empowered to Lead in the Legal Profession, and elected to bencher of the William “Mac” Taylor American Inn of Court. She graduated from the Dallas Association of Young Lawyers’ Leadership Class in 2011, is a Life Fellow of the DAYL Foundation, and a former member of the Dallas Bar Association’s prestigious Vision 2020 Committee. The Fellows of the DAYL Foundation are a group of distinguished attorneys and judges who have been recognized by their peers for professional distinction and service to the community and to the Bar. Kate was also named as a Super Lawyers Rising Star from 2015-2016, and was named as a Texas Super Lawyer in 2019 and 2021-2023. Only 5% of attorneys are selected to Super Lawyers, and only 2.5% of attorneys are selected to Rising Stars. She was also named as one of the Top Women Lawyers for Real Estate Law in Texas Monthly’s annual lists in 2019 and 2021-2023. In 2022, she was named a D Magazine Best Lawyer for Real Estate.

She graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and received her Juris Doctorate from St. Mary’s School of Law, where she was an Associate Editor of The Scholar Law Review.

Raised in Dallas, Kate believes in giving back to her community. She’s served on the Ursuline Academy of Dallas Alumnae Association Board and is now a member of the Ursuline Professional Women’s Networking Group. She’s served on various underwriting committees for local philanthropies and provided guidance as part of the Junior League of Dallas.