About Katie
Katie Walsh took a direct path from law school into courtroom work. She earned a B.A. from Santa Clara University in 1998 and completed her J.D. at Loyola Law School, Los Angeles, in 2003. Those academic years set the timetable for her early public-service work in Orange County.
Right after law school she began working in the Orange County District Lawyer's Office. Her title is listed as Deputy District Lawyer beginning in 2003. The role put her inside county courtrooms and exposed her to the day-to-day pressures of litigating for the public. She remained in that office through the early years of her practice before shifting to private work.
In 2012 she opened the Law Office of Katie Walsh. The firm listing dates to that year. Her move into solo practice allowed her to apply courtroom experience to individual client matters. Court filings, client meetings and odd hours of preparation became a steady rhythm.
Walsh’s professional memberships sketch out the contours of her interests. She is a member of the Pacific Juvenile Defender Center and joined the organization in 2015. That same year she also joined the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. Her affiliations extend to local legal groups as well: she has been a member of the Orange County Bar Association since 2004 and of the Orange County Women’s Lawyer Association since 2012. She is listed as a member of the Mommy Esquire Law Association (since 2013) and of Mommy Esquire Orange County Bar (since 2012). Since 2013 she has served as a barrister in the William P. Gray Legion Lex American Inn of Court. These memberships have kept her connected to both practice-specific issues and the local legal community.
Colleagues describe her courtroom style as straightforward. She tends to handle cases that bring her back into the criminal and juvenile justice arenas. Her background in the county office and her ongoing ties to juvenile defense groups inform how she approaches client work.
She balances caseloads typical of small-firm practice. Files move from investigation to hearing to resolution, often on compressed timelines. Walsh manages those steps from her private office, where she has represented clients since launching her firm.
As of 2026 she continues to practice from the Law Office of Katie Walsh, managing criminal and juvenile defense matters in California.
