Kate Schuelke is Executive Advisor in the Corporate practice of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati. Based in the firm’s Palo Alto office, Kate draws on more than three decades of experience as a senior legal executive as well as her service as a public company director to advise general counsel, senior executives, and boards on complex legal, governance, and strategic matters. She has extensive experience working with global technology companies, particularly in the semiconductor, data storage, and global manufacturing industries.

Kate has served as chief legal officer of three publicly traded technology companies and has spent much of her career working at the intersection of law, business strategy, governance, and enterprise risk. Her experience spans corporate governance and public company matters, mergers and acquisitions, government and internal investigations, complex litigation, intellectual property protection and licensing, cybersecurity and data privacy, regulatory compliance, government affairs and public policy, crisis management, and international operations. Throughout her in-house career, she earned a reputation for finding business-focused solutions to complex legal matters.

Kate also brings the perspective of an experienced public company director. Since 2019, she has served on the board of semiconductor company SiTime Corporation, where she also chairs the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee and is a member of the Compensation Committee. Her board service, combined with decades of experience advising public company boards, gives her a distinct perspective on corporate governance, strategic decision making, board, management, and shareholder dynamics, and balancing risk and growth opportunities.

Prior to joining Wilson Sonsini, Kate held senior legal leadership roles at Seagate Technology and Altera Corporation. As senior vice president, chief legal officer, and corporate secretary of Seagate, she led a global organization of more than 300 professionals responsible for legal, compliance, government affairs, and global trust and security. At Altera, where she spent 20 years and ultimately served as senior vice president, general counsel, and corporate secretary, Kate led the company’s worldwide legal, compliance, and internal audit functions and advised on numerous strategic transactions, including Altera’s $16.7 billion acquisition by Intel Corporation.

Throughout her career and board service, Kate has worked with technology businesses serving a broad range of end markets, including data centers and cloud infrastructure, communications and networking, automotive, mobile and IoT, industrial and manufacturing, and aerospace and defense. She has substantial international experience leading global teams and advising on cross-border transactions, litigation, trade compliance, regulatory matters, and geopolitical issues.

Kate began her legal career as an associate at an Am Law 100 firm, where she specialized in intellectual property and securities defense litigation. She was also a J. William Fulbright Scholar, lecturing and conducting research at Polish universities, government institutions, and business organizations on the topic of United States and international intellectual property law.

Kate is a recipient of the National Association of Corporate Directors’ (NACD’s) Directorship Certification (NACD.DC), the nation’s leading credential for board directors, and a frequent speaker on corporate governance, the role of the general counsel, and leadership development.

Outside of her legal work, Kate is a nonprofit board member of the American Leadership Forum Silicon Valley, which brings together leaders from diverse sectors to collaboratively address public issues and build strong networks across the communities they serve.

Kate is admitted in California and New York.