Karen L. Stevenson
Los Angeles, CA
Senior Counsel
phone (213) 891-5574
fax      (213) 630-5764
email kstevenson@buchalter.com
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Biography

Karen L. Stevenson is Senior Counsel in the firm’s Litigation Practice Group in Los Angeles. She is also a member of the firm’s Marketing Committee. She specializes in complex commercial litigation, including unfair competition (state and federal), consumer lending practices, financial fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, breach of contract and business torts.

Ms. Stevenson is lead counsel in high‐stakes disputes for a variety of national and regional clients, including banks, institutional investors, and mortgage lenders. Twice selected as aLos Angeles Magazine Southern California Super Lawyer in business litigation, Ms. Stevenson is a frequent speaker and advisor on electronic discovery, the amendments for the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure related to electronically stored information, and the admissibility of electronically stored information.

Ms. Stevenson currently serves as a Trustee to the Rhodes Trust which oversees the Rhodes Scholarship program for Oxford University in England, and served as the 2009‐2010 Rhodes Scholarship District Secretary for Southern California and Arizona. Ms. Stevenson is the Associate Editor of the American Bar Association, Litigation News and Litigation Update, a member of the Board of Governors at the Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles, a member of Women in eDiscovery and the Association of Business Trial Lawyers. She sits on the Board of Directors for the Arts and Sciences Foundation for the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and she is a past President of the Board of Directors for the non‐profit, Women’s Care Cottage.

Representative Matters

Successfully opposed motion for summary judgment on behalf of mortgage loan originator in breach of contract action alleging damages in excess of $44 million and involving secondary market securitizations of subprime mortgage loans.

Lead trial defense counsel for mortgage lender in national class action alleging racially discriminatory lending practices.

Second-chaired a successful federal court jury trial representing an Oregon-based cargo airline in a breach of contract action in which the jury awarded over $16 million in damages to the plaintiff. Verdict upheld by the Ninth Circuit.

Member of defense team that won summary judgment on behalf of a major accounting firm in an action for professional negligence brought by investment partnership members. Mariani v. Price Waterhouse, 70 Cal. App. 4th 685 (1999).

Represented over 40 institutional investors in securities litigation against major investment banks for misrepresentation in offering memoranda for Enron-backed securities.

Recent Publications

"Alabama Supreme Court Overturns Fraud Verdicts Against Drug Companies," Litigation News, February 22, 2010

Co-author, "Involuntary Dissolution: The Nuclear Option,” Business Law News, Issue 3 2009

"Rodriquez v. West Publishing: Hidden Class Rep Incentive Deals Lead to Denial of Award Altogether," Litigation News, Summer 2009

"Proposed Amendments to Rule 26(a)(2) Expand Expert Disclosures, Clarify Work-Product Protections," Litigation News, September 2008

"Courts Confront Admissibility of Text and Instant Messages," Litigation News, April 2008

"What’s On Your Witness’s MySpace Page?" Litigation News, March 2008

"E-Discovery: We're Not in Kansas Anymore," Of Counsel, April 2007

"Retailers Beware: Do You Know What Your Receipts Say?" Los Angeles Business Journal, March 26, 2007

Ms. Stevenson earned her J.D. with distinction at Stanford Law School. While at Stanford Law, with her teammate, Ms. Stevenson won the Marian Rice Kirkwood Moot Court Award for Best Team of Advocates. She earned an M.A. in European History at Oxford University, England as a Rhodes Scholar and received her B.A. in History (Phi Beta Kappa) at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill where she was a Morehead Scholar.

Areas of Practice

• Litigation
• Unfair Competition
• Financial Institutions Litigation

Bar Admissions

• California
• U.S. Court of Appeals 9th Circuit