Kathleen “Kate” Kilanowski is the founding partner of Cagle Pugh’s Dallas office and a seasoned real estate and community association attorney with nearly 20 years of experience. Her practice focuses on community association governance, restrictive covenant drafting and enforcement, mortgage and association foreclosures, title and lien disputes, construction defects, receiverships, tax suits, and related real estate litigation and business litigation.

Kate has represented hundreds of homeowners’ associations, condominium associations, lenders, banks, and mortgage servicers throughout Texas. She is among the few Texas attorneys highly experienced in both mortgage and association foreclosures, a niche area requiring deep knowledge of real estate law, statutory compliance, and litigation strategy. In addition to her client work, she regularly writes and speaks on community association law and governance issues.

An active leader in the legal community, Kate previously served as Chair of the Dallas Bar Association’s Real Property Law Section and as a Director on the DBA Board of Directors, as well as other DBA Committees. She is a graduate of the Dallas Association of Young Lawyers Leadership Class, a Life Fellow of the DAYL Foundation, a member of the Dallas Bar Association’s inaugural WE LEAD class, a Bencher of the William “Mac” Taylor American Inn of Court, and a member of the Texas Bar College.

Kate’s professional excellence has been widely recognized. She has been named a Texas Super Lawyer (2019, 2021–2025) and a Super Lawyers Rising Star (2015–2016), recognized among Texas Monthly’s Top Women Lawyers for Real Estate (2019, 2021–2024), and selected as a D Magazine Best Lawyer for Real Estate (2022).

Kate earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and her J.D. from St. Mary’s School of Law, where she served as 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. She remains active in the community through service with Ursuline Academy of Dallas, her child’s school, and other local philanthropic and professional organizations.