Kate Barton

Kate Barton is Global Chief Executive Officer of Dentons, the world's largest global law firm with a presence in more than 80 countries. She spent over 35 years in leadership roles at EY and joined Dentons in early September 2024 to start her term as CEO on November 10, 2024. Her father was a police officer and her mother a nurse, both first-generation Irish Americans who raised their family in Brighton, Boston. Barton earned a full scholarship to Boston University, where she majored in accounting, and later excelled at BC Law.

She found her way to EY through a summer internship during law school and became Boston's first female tax partner in 1996. She was also the first tax managing partner for a geographical region (New England) and the only woman vice chair for tax services among the "big four" accounting firms. Prior to her CEO role, Kate served as the Global Vice Chair of Tax, Law and People Advisory Services of EY and was a member of the Global Executive Board. She led multiple business units at EY, a $50 billion organization operating in 150 countries, and as CEO of Tax, Law, and People Advisory Services managed a global workforce of 70,000 professionals generating revenues in excess of $11 billion.

Kate received a B.S. from Boston University, a J.D. from Boston College Law School, Magna Cum Laude, Order of the Coif, and an LL.M. in Taxation from Boston University School of Law. She has attended the Executive MBA programs at the Kellogg School of Management and Harvard University. She is on the Board of Directors at Catalyst, a global nonprofit at the forefront of women's advancement and inclusion, and serves as a board member of SharkNinja, a NYSE public company. She also serves on the Boston College Law Deans Advisory Council and the Boston University School of Management Advisory Council.

Career History

• Global Vice Chair, EY (October 2022 - June 2023)
• CEO, Tax, Law and People Advisory Services, EY
• Led the Americas tax practice for nine years, encompassing the US, Canada, Israel, and Latin America
• Partner, Tax Services, Ernst & Young Boston office (first female tax partner, 1996)

What Kate Barton could bring to Global Chief Executive Officer at Dentons: Barton's appointment represents a strategic pivot for Dentons toward Big Four professional services practices. Her three-decade track record transforming EY's global tax practice, implementing technology solutions to drive efficiency, and managing complex global organizations across 150 countries directly addresses the challenges facing large, decentralized law firms. Her experience leading tens of thousands of professionals and generating multi-billion dollar revenues positions her to scale Dentons' business model, implement operational best practices from the accounting sector, and integrate emerging technologies like AI into service delivery—capabilities her predecessor Elliott Portnoy highlighted as essential to Dentons' next chapter of growth.