Karen L. Campbell is a partner in the New York office of Lewis Brisbois and a chair of the General Liability Practice. Ms. Campbell is a trial attorney with 35 years of experience. Her practice focuses on defending hotel industry clients against human sex trafficking claims. Other practice areas include litigation under the NY and NJ Child Victims Act and general liability litigation at both the primary and excess levels. She also defends food franchisee/franchisors, long-term care providers, assisted living facilities, and home health aides in a variety of matters including professional liability, negligence, sexual abuse/misconduct, discrimination, and errors in judgment claims. She has also represented social services clients such as foster care agencies, outpatient mental health, addiction and counseling clinics, senior citizen and day care centers, and medical, beauty, and personal care facilities.

Prior to entering private practice in 1991, Ms. Campbell was an Assistant District Attorney with the Kings County District Attorneys office in Brooklyn, New York where she prosecuted and tried violent felony crimes. After leaving the District Attorney’s office in 1991, she became associated with a mid-sized firm specializing in environmental insurance coverage and defense of personal injury actions. In 1996, Ms. Campbell became a member of the firm. In 1998, Ms. Campbell joined the New York office of a large California firm as Special Counsel and served as one of the office’s trial counsel. She handled a variety of general liability cases and also concentrated her practice on the defense of hospitals, physicians and podiatrists in medical malpractice litigation arising from cardiovascular, pulmonary, neurological, eye, ear and nose, podiatry diseases or disorders. Most recently, in 2002, she joined a regional Massachusetts firm as the Managing Attorney of the New York office. Ms. Campbell served as the principal trial attorney in New York while overseeing the overall growth and development of the office from two attorneys to more than 17 employees. Ms. Campbell has successfully tried more than 55 cases in Kings, New York, Bronx, Suffolk and Westchester counties and in the Southern District of New York. She has obtained defense verdicts, directed verdicts and verdicts awarding minimal damages as well as handling the negotiation of favorable settlements both before and during trial.

Publications

Professional Presentations

• Panelist, Summations and War Stories with a Message, NYCLA CLE Institute and Programs, May 4, 2023
• Presenter, New Trends in Civil Litigation, Adults Survivor Act, February 16, 2023
• Speaker, The Direct Examination of the Expert Witness, Defense Association of New York, April 7, 2022
• Panelist, “How to Conduct a Voir Dire: An Interactive Program” co-sponsored by the New York Country Lawyers Association and Beverly Hills Bar Association, September 30, 2021
• Panelist, “COVID-19 Legal Concerns: What’s Top of Mind for the Retail, Restaurant, and Hospitality Industry,” CLM, May 2021
• Panelist, "The Road to Recovery 2021: An Update on Litigating NY Child Victims Act Cases," New York State Academy of Trial Lawyers, April 27, 2021
• Speaker, Latest Topics in Hospitality Law, Human Sex Trafficking, Lewis Brisbois Webinar, March 2021
• Panelist, Litigating Nursing Home Cases Post The COVID-19 Pandemic (Webinar), New York State Bar Association, October 15, 2020
• Panelist, "The Road on Recovery: Litigating NY Child Victims Act Cases," New York State Academy of Trial Lawyers, August 6, 2020
• Panelist, The Business Case for Diversity, Claims and Litigation Management Alliance (CLM), June 25, 2020
• Panelist, Please Beat Up My/Their Clients: A Discussion of the Relative Merits of Mediation and Judicial Settlement Conferences, United States District Court, Southern District of New York, September 26, 2018
• Executive Council, School of Claims Mediation, CLM Claims College, September 6 – 8, 2018
• Panelist, “Taming the Elephant in the Courtroom: Strategies for Female Lawyers and their Supporters to Identify, Defuse, and Combat Bias in the Courtroom and in the Boardroom”, The Defense Association of New York, May 2018
• Presenter, Impeachment of Witnesses in Civil Litigation, Clear Law Institute, September 27, 2017
• Panelist, “Getting a Seat at the Table: Tips for Women Lawyers,” Practicing Law Institute Women Lawyers in Leadership 2017
• Panelist, Mentoring Panel, 2016 Women’s Leadership Forum, Claims Litigation Management Alliance, October 6, 2016
• Seminar, Defending Premises Security Claims, Housing Authority Insurance Group Training Seminar, February 2016
• Panelist, Intro to Civil Practice Skills: Torts, Personal Injury and Insurance Law, New York State Bar Association CLE Program, October 2015
• Panelist, Throwing Away Your Case: How to Preserve Evidence in a Hospitality Lawsuit, Lewis Brisbois Webinar, August 20, 2015.
• Karen L. Campbell, et al., Avatar in the Courtroom: Is 3D Technology Ready for Primetime?, 63 Fed’n Def. & Corp. Couns. 295, 295-317 (2013).
• Faculty Member, “Transforming Confidence into Expertise,” Graduate Program of the Litigation Management College, Federation of Defense & Corporate Counsel, June 2012, 2013
• Presentation, Effective Litigation Management, CEU Institute, October 2011
• Seminar, Damages, April 2011
• Presentation, Best Practices for Managing Catastrophic Claims, March 2011
• Panelist, “Litigation Trends, Trials and Take Aways,” National Risk Retention Association, October 2011
• Panelist, “How to Get to the Point: Making Expert Testimony Easy to Interpret for the Jury,” Federation of Defense & Corporate Counsel, July 2011
• Speaker, “Strategies for Success - Navigating Diversity on Rough Seas,” DRI Annual Meeting, 2010
• Speaker, Early Case Evaluation Settlement Strategies and Evaluation of Risk, Minority Corporate Counsel Association CLE Expo, March 2008

Admissions

• State Bar Admissions
  • New Jersey
  • New York
• United States District Courts
  • United States District Court for the District of New Jersey
  • United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York
  • United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
  • United States District Court for the Western District of New York
• United States Courts of Appeals
• United States Supreme Court

Admissions

New York

New Jersey

United States District Courts for the Southern, Western, and Eastern Districts of New York

United States District Court of New Jersey

Supreme Court of the United States of America

Associations

• American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA)
• Board Member, The Defense Association of New York (DANY)
• Member, Federation of Defense & Corporate Counsel, 2008; State Representative for New York, 2012; Diversity Initiative Committee - Vice Chair, 2012
• Executive Board Member, National Association of Insurance Women, 2006-2008, 2009-2010
• Member, Defense Research Institute
• Member, Claims & Litigation Management Alliance

Awards & Honors

• 2005 Toxic Tort verdict selected by the New York Law Journal as one of the noteworthy cases from 2005 that resulted in a defense verdict.
• While earning her law degree, Ms. Campbell was a member of the Moot Court Board and was honored as a member of the Order of Barristers. 

Education

Tulane University School of Law

Juris Doctor, 1987

University of Virginia

Bachelor of Arts, 1984