With thirty years of litigation experience, Karen’s practice focuses primarily on patent infringement litigation before the Delaware District Court. She serves on Morris Nichols’ Executive Committee and was formerly Practice Group Coordinator of the firm’s Intellectual Property Litigation Group.
Karen’s trial experience as an IP litigator includes both lead counsel and co-counsel roles where she has secured favorable outcomes at the district court level, on appeal to the Federal Circuit, and through settlement negotiations.
Karen’s clients cover a range of industries, including pharmaceuticals, life sciences, biotechnology, electronics, computer software, telecommunications, and consumer products. Her representative clients include Thermo Fisher, Facebook, Instagram, Amazon.com, Genentech, Shire Pharmaceuticals, Sunovion Pharmaceuticals, Motorola Mobility, Vanda Pharmaceuticals, ON Semiconductor, and PCM.
In addition to handling patent disputes, Karen also has experience in a variety of other intellectual property and commercial litigation areas, including copyright, trademark, trade secret, unfair competition, and contract and licensing disputes.
She has been recognized as an intellectual property law leader by Chambers USA, The Best Lawyers in America®, Delaware Super Lawyers, Managing IP, and others.
Karen has long been an activist in a variety of community activities and is a recipient of the Delaware State Bar Association’s Community Service Award.
In her support of health and wellness initiatives, Karen serves as chair of the Delaware State Bar Association (“DSBA”) Professional Guidance Committee, which offers peer guidance and support to lawyers with practice-related or personal issues, and is a frequent speaker on lawyer wellness in this leadership role. She also serves on the Board of Directors of the Delaware Lawyers Assistance Fund and the Philadelphia Regional Advisory Board of the Caron Treatment Center.
Karen is also an avid advocate of legal representation for the poor. She is a board member and past president of Delaware Volunteer Legal Services. She also served as chair of the Combined Campaign for Justice, which benefits the three legal aid agencies in Delaware that serve low-income populations. She currently serves as Legal Community Section Chair of the United Way of Delaware. She also volunteers with Big Brothers, Big Sisters as a mentor at a local Wilmington elementary school and at the Joseph’s Food Pantry at Congregation Beth Emeth.
A longtime champion for diversity and a leader in the Delaware Bar, Karen previously served as chair of the DSBA Women and Law Section. In 2009, Karen was the recipient of the organization’s Women’s Leadership Award, presented to a member whose character, strength, personality, achievement and activities in matters affecting women lawyers have served as an inspiration to and a model for women lawyers.
Honors
- Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business, Ranked in Delaware for intellectual property (2005-2020)
- IAM Patent 1000: The World’s Leading Patent Practitioners, Ranked among leading Delaware patent professionals (2014-2020)
- Managing Intellectual Property, Recognized as an “IP Star” (2014-2019), named one of the Top 250 Women in IP (2014-2020), recipient of the “Outstanding Litigator: Delaware” award at the MIP Americas Awards (2020)
- The Best Lawyers in America, Selected for inclusion for Delaware intellectual property and patent litigation (2011-2021) and Best Lawyers Business Edition: Women in the Law (2018-2019)
- Delaware Super Lawyers, Selected for inclusion for intellectual property litigation in Delaware (2007-2020)
- Who’s Who Legal: Patents, Listed among top patent practitioners (2014-2019)