An associate and member of the Employers & Sponsors practice group, Catherine Ferguson advises clients on tax issues in the retirement space, particularly nonqualified compensation plans, tax-exempt matters on unrelated business income tax (UBIT) issues, and qualified retirement plans.

Prior to joining Groom, Catherine was a tax associate at a multi-national law firm where she primarily worked on domestic and cross-border M&A deals involving private equity and real estate investment trusts and was a clerk at the United States Tax Court. 

Catherine received her Master of Laws in Taxation from Georgetown University Law Center, graduating with distinction. During this time, she was active as a tax researcher, including a position as a Tax Research Fellow, and supporting Professor Charles Gustafson as a Research Assistant, focusing on new code provisions and regulations for a textbook. She also authored a topic, Transfer Pricing and Developing Countries, for an EUCOTAX Wintercourse collection of Group Papers. While attending Georgetown, Catherine also had a legal externship and supervised research project at the United States Tax Court.

Her JD was awarded by Wayne State University Law School, where she graduated cum laude and won a number of awards, including the Bronze Key Award, the Silver Key Award, the Law Student Tax Achievement Award by the Michigan Bar, the Association of Corporate Counsel Scholarship, the Ira J. Spoon Endowed Scholarship for grades in Property, and for Mock Trial. Catherine was also Editor-in-Chief and Co-Founder of the Journal of Business Law, and a teaching assistant and research assistant for several Law School faculty members.

While attending law school, Catherine also was a legal extern in the Internal Revenue Service’s Office of the Chief Counsel in Detroit and clerked for two Michigan firms, providing research and drafting support on a variety of topics, primarily related to business law and tax, and worked in hospitality.

In her free time Catherine enjoys yoga, running, spending time family and friends, travel, and going to the theater and dinner, especially Italian and Spanish cuisine.