About Attorney Katherine McDonald
Attorney Katherine McDonald is a partner with Dethlefs Pykosh & Murphy. She focuses her practice on family law, estate planning, and estate administration. Before joining the firm in 2014, Katherine started her own general practice in 2013.
Katherine is a 2009 graduate of Bucknell University in Lewisburg, PA, majoring in political science and psychology. She also played four years of Division I softball as a pitcher. Katherine earned her Juris Doctor from the Dickinson School of Law of the Pennsylvania State University in Carlisle, PA, where she worked at the Elder Protection Clinic and was a member of the Phil Alpha Delta Law Fraternity. Following graduation in 2012, she was admitted to the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania in 2012, the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania in 2014, and the Supreme Court of the United States in 2016.
Katherine was named as a Super Lawyers Rising Stars Honoree in 2022 and 2023 and was named as Simply the Best Readers’ Choice Family Law Attorney by Harrisburg Magazine in 2022.
Katherine volunteers with the Mazzoni Center in Philadelphia, PA, which provides services to the LGBTQ community. She also volunteers with several local animal rescues, including Bunny Brigade Inc.
Areas of practice:
- Adoption
- Child Custody
- Divorce
- Elder Law
- Estate Administration
- Estate Planning (Advance Directive, POSs, Trusts, Wills)
- Family Law
- Grandparents’ Rights
- Guardianship
- Name Changes
- Support (Child, Spousal)
Education & Public Service
Education
- J.D., The Dickinson School of Law of The Pennsylvania State University, Carlisle, PA
- B.A., Bucknell University, Lewisburg, PA
Bar Admissions
- Supreme Court of the United States of America
- Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
- United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania
Awards
Katherine was named as a Super Lawyers Rising Stars Honoree in 2022 and 2023 and was named as Simply the Best Readers’ Choice Family Law Attorney by Harrisburg Magazine in 2022.
Professional Associations & Membership
- Pennsylvania Bar Association
- Cumberland County Bar Association
- Dauphin County Bar Association
- York County Bar Association
- Phil Alpha Delta Law Fraternity (past)
Volunteer Involvement
- Mazzoni Center (Philadelphia, PA) which provides services to the LGBTQ community
- Rescue Transporter, helping animals get from shelters and foster homes to rescues and adopters