Karen Kubin defends employers in class actions and other complex employment litigation alleging wage-and-hour violations, discrimination, harassment, wrongful discharge, trade secret theft, ERISA violations, and retaliation under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and other whistleblower laws. Ms. Kubin has broad jury and bench trial experience in both federal and state courts; she is also experienced in domestic and international arbitrations. Her client list spans an array of industries, including the communications, consumer products, energy, entertainment, financial services, life sciences, publishing, restaurant, retail, technology, transportation, and venture capital sectors.
Ms. Kubin was named by the Daily Journal as one of California’s Top Women Litigators (2007 – 2008), Top 100 Lawyers (2009), Top Employment Lawyers (2010 – 2013), and Top Women Lawyers (2012). Chambers USA has recommended Ms. Kubin for her expertise in employment law (2009 – 2013), calling her a “strategic and aggressive litigator who provides first-class advice.” She was named an “Employment MVP” by Law360 in 2012 for “helping notch a win for Brinker Restaurant Corp. in a case that settled the question of whether California employers are required simply to provide breaks for their workers or to ensure the breaks are taken.”
She is a member of the American Bar Association, the San Francisco Bar Association, and the California State Bar’s section on labor and employment law. She serves as a member of the board of trustees of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and president of San Francisco Opera Guild.
Ms. Kubin received her B.A., cum laude, from the University of Washington, where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, and her J.D. from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, where she was elected to the Order of the Coif and served as managing editor of the Hastings Law Journal.