Catherine ("Cate") Carter Semler, originally from El Paso, Texas, graduated from Austin College in Sherman, Texas in 1980. After working as a litigation legal assistant for several years, Cate obtained her law degree from St. Mary’s University School of Law, San Antonio, Texas in 1992. Upon law school graduation, she spent three years as an associate attorney with the El Paso defense firm of Ray, Valdez, McChristian & Jeans, practicing primarily in the areas of premises liability, product liability under the Texas Deceptive Trade Practice Act (DTPA), and contract law. Cate then opened and maintained her own law office for about two years, handling various contract, domestic relations and adoption cases in both Texas and New Mexico courts. Since moving to Atlanta, Cate has practiced on both sides of the bar, first handling plaintiffs’ personal injury matters and now concentrating on premises liability defense under the supervision of attorney Douglas A. Wilde.