Bishop John Harvey Taylor has named attorney Catherine Helm – an active volunteer and former senior warden and school board chair at St. James’ in the City, Wilshire Center – to serve as interim chancellor, or principal legal counsel, of the Diocese of Los Angeles.
Helm will succeed outgoing chancellor Canon Richard Zevnik, who is concluding his tenure as chancellor during Diocesan Convention’s upcoming annual meeting Nov. 7-8.
“It’s been a privilege to work with Cathy over the last several months,” Taylor said. “A chancellor’s portfolio is a delicate balance of offering legal and pastoral insight. In even the most difficult matters, our command in Christ is to seek reconciliation where possible. This has been a hallmark of Chancellor Zevnik’s ministry as well as that of our late vice chancellor, Julie Dean Larsen, along with vice chancellors Jeff Baker and Nancy Whitehead. As interim ‘managing partner’ in our diocesan ‘firm,’ pending the determination of new episcopal leadership, Cathy has already risen splendidly to the challenges of this unique and vital ministry.”
A partner in Helm Silverman LLP specializing in labor and employment law, Helm expresses longstanding interest in the work of the diocesan chancellor and vice chancellors. “Several years ago,” she said, “I spoke to one of our diocesan chancellors when I was working on a project for my church. I was intrigued to discover that the chancellor posts existed, and I wondered how people were lucky enough to get such an interesting job. I’m delighted that things have turned out so that I now have the chance to work in the position myself. The little bit of work that I’ve done so far has been fascinating, and I’m looking forward to learning and doing more.”
Previously, Helm was a partner in the Los Angeles office of Irell & Manella, a firm she joined in 1984 after a year as a law clerk in the office o the Hon. James A. Belson of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals. She graduated Harvard Law School in 1983, and earned a bachelor’s degree in American history and literature, magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, from Harvard College in 1980.
Helm currently is a member, since 2010, of the Los Angeles Opera board of trustees. Since 2023 she has been a board member of St. James Manor, a low-income housing foundation established by St. James’ Parish, where she served as senior warden of the vestry from 2018 to 2021 and as a board member of St. James School (1994-1999, 2000-2006; chair, 2000-2004). Since 2009 she has been a member of the Diocesan Commission on Schools, and from 2009 to 2018 was a member of the board of trustees of Archer School for Girls.
A long-time Los Angeles resident, Helm has been active since 2003 as coordinator and volunteer at St. James’ food pantry and serves on the parish’s liturgical team. An amateur flutist, she also maintains an active interest in ballet.