Karen Reinhold is an experienced employment and trial lawyer with a unique perspective.  She joined Hopkins & Carley in 2009 after serving as in-house counsel to a global leader in satellite technology.
 
“My experience as associate general counsel for Loral Space & Communications taught me to focus on practical and  responsive solutions to a client’s business problems,” Karen said.  “I try to stay focused on the company’s business needs, background and culture when providing legal advice.  Too often, lawyers in private practice do not understand the day-to-day reality that sets the stage for any legal problem facing a business.”

Both private and public corporations seek her advice on complex employment matters as well as her representation in employment-related cases.  “I have lead counsel, jury trial experience that provides great value both when litigating cases and when I am in an advisory role.”

Employers—especially ones in the tech sector—seek Karen’s advice and counsel on the full range of employment-related issues.  These include:

• Employee mobility
• Trade-secret issues
• Wage and hour disputes
• Discrimination issues
• Wrongful termination, and
• Compliance with the FMLA, ADA, FLSA and other state and federal laws.

She litigates and tries claims involving these same employment-related issues in state and federal courts throughout California.

Why Hopkins & Carley?
Karen was in-house for nearly 15 years and with a blue-chip firm before that.  “I experienced first-hand how a practical, accessible, value-minded employment attorney could impact a company,” Karen explained.  “When I decided to go back into private practice, I looked for a firm that shared my values."

“I found it with Hopkins & Carley."

“I also like the fact that I get to practice law here.  When a client hires me, they get me.”

In-house experience
When Karen was in-house, she was first-chair in several state and federal jury trials dealing with a variety of issues.  She won defense verdicts for cases involving:

• Age discrimination
• Retaliation and wrongful termination
• National origin discrimination
• Breach of contract
• Intentional interference, and
• Whistle-blower termination

During her time at Loral, she created an in-house litigation and trial function for employment-related disputes filed against Loral’s California-based companies, with a specific focus on reducing the cost of litigation and trial without compromising results.  In addition to her litigation and trial responsibilities, Karen provided advice and counsel directly to human resource managers, senior executives and general counsel for the various Loral business units spread across the United States, as well as the corporate office located in New York.

Thought Leadership
She regularly presents on legal issues in the workplace.  Most recently, Karen presented  An Overview on Employment-Related Legal Issues for Emerging Companies as part of the California Program for Entrepreneurship at the Leavey School of Business, Santa Clara University.  In December 2010, she presented at the annual All-Hands Meeting of the Silicon Valley Association of General Counsel.

Recent Cases

• Karen represented a group of game designers who were sued by their former employer for a variety of claims including misappropriation of trade secrets, unfair competition, fraud, conversion and breach of contract when they joined a competing game company.  The case was aggressively litigated by the former employer in an effort to reduce the employees’ mobility in the marketplace and hamper competition.  The case presented cutting edge issues regarding employee mobility, unfair competition and trade secrets.
• A leading financial services company discovered that a key employee was sharing proprietary and confidential data with competitors and using information to develop a potential job opportunity with a competitor.  Working with the general counsel, CEO and COO, Karen developed a litigation strategy to obtain injunctive relief against the disloyal employee as well as a potential competitor in two different states.  As a result, her client obtained a temporary restraining order that was converted to a preliminary injunction requiring the employee to return all of the company’s confidential and proprietary data and precluding any future use. 

Lectures

• Overview of Employment-Related Legal Issues for Emerging Companies, California Program for Entrepreneurship (2010)
• All-Hands Meeting, Silicon Valley Association of General Counsel (2010)