Karen has more than 15 years of experience focused on commercial litigation and commercial finance. She works with publicly traded and closely held companies, banks, and call centers on consumer issues, including the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, the Junk Fax Protection Act, federal and state regulatory compliance issues, and state and local consumer and privacy issues. She is a national speaker on TCPA class action defense and has experience defending class actions nationwide. Karen has served as lead counsel in dozens of TCPA and JFPA cases across the country. In addition, she provides compliance advice and counseling to her clients ensuring that privacy policies, website terms and conditions, and contractual provisions ensure the maximum protection for her clients.

She also represents clients in employment-related matters, having defended several clients in both federal and state employment litigation, including overtime and discrimination cases. Karen provides her clients with contractual- and compliance-related employment advice, and assists in negotiating severance packages and employment claims. She is also heavily involved in the Ohio Community School (charter school) industry in both litigation and general business. In addition to regulatory and employment law litigation, she has served as lead counsel in a wide variety of complex commercial litigation matters involving contract disputes, corporate veil-piercing, commercial paper, commercial leases, shareholder disputes, and antitrust laws. 

Karen also has experience representing a variety of businesses and entrepreneurs in transactional, tax, and employment matters. Her experience in the corporate world enables her to advise clients on a variety of issues, including business structure, organizational matters, and succession planning. She has handled numerous tax controversies with the IRS and state and local taxing authorities and has tried cases in front of the U.S. Tax Court. She serves as outside general counsel to many organizations in Ohio and Michigan, where she maintains active licenses. Understanding how businesses operate and business issues that often prompt or arise during litigation allows Karen to provide valuable services to her clients on the transactional side – drafting agreements that are clear and unambiguous – and to staunchly defend her clients in court.

Bar Admissions

Ohio

Michigan

U.S. Tax Court

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois

Education

• Capital University School of Law (LL.M., 1994)
  • Taxation
  • Ohio Tax Review, editor & writer
• Detroit College of Law at Michigan State University
• University of Michigan (B.A., 1987)
  • Political Science

Significant Accomplishments

• Peer Review Rated AV in Martindale-Hubbell
• Ohio Super Lawyer^® by Law & Politics Magazine, Business, Business Litigation, and Employment Law
• Ohio Super Lawyers^® 
• Columbus Bar Association Community Service Award
  • Age 37 and Over Award
• Generation Next: 40 Under 40 award by The State Journal
• Volunteer of the Year from the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (2011)
• Top Lawyers 2014 by Columbus CEO magazine
• CSPA/TCPA designation

Professional Associations

• Ohio State Bar Association
• State Bar of Michigan
• Columbus Bar Association
• Ohio State Bar Association, Corporate Counsel Section Council, chair
• Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, Mid-Ohio Chapter Network
  • Board member
  • Gala, past chair (2011)
  • Board of Directors, past president
• Conway Center for Family Business, Board of Trustees, chair
• Nationwide Children's Hospital, board member, past president
• Tim Horton's Children's Foundation, Fundraising Committee, past member
• Kiwanis Club of Downtown Columbus
• Safety Council of Central Ohio, past trustee
• University of Michigan Alumni Association of Central Ohio