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Karen Chisholm Brisch
Associate Karen Brisch has extensive experience representing both plaintiffs and defendants in complex commercial cases and employment matters. She has successfully handled cases in federal court, state court, and arbitration, and also has unique expertise in appellate advocacy. Ms. Brisch spent the early years of her practice at Baker Botts, L.L.P., where she split her time between commercial litigation and employment disputes. Ms. Brisch joined Baker Botts after completing a clerkship on United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. Prior to her clerkship, Ms. Brisch attended the University of Chicago School of Law, where she served on the Law Review and graduated in the top ten percent of her class. At Baker Botts, Ms. Brisch's commercial work primarily involved oil and gas litigation and arbitrations. One of Ms. Brisch's cases, Pennzoil Exploration & Production Co. v. Ramco Energy Limited, 139 F.3d 1061 (5th Cir. 1998), was a landmark ruling in the Fifth Circuit's arbitration jurisprudence and is frequently cited today. Ms. Brisch's other work at Baker Botts involved representing employers under state and federal statutes, with significant experience in the areas of ERISA litigation, age discrimination, and sexual harassment. Ms. Brisch successfully obtained summary judgment for the employer in two reported cases, which she also defended on appeal. See Ferguson v. Texasgulf, 67 Empl. Prac. Dec. 43,947, 5 A.D. Cases 722 (S.D. Tex. 1996), aff'd, 106 F.3d 397 (5th Cir. 1997) (table) and Grogan v. Savings of Am., Inc., 118 F. Supp. 2d 741 (S.D. Tex.), aff'd, 202 F.3d 265 (5th Cir. 1999) (table). Ms. Brisch also assisted in the appellate defense of other decisions in favor of the employer, including Turco v. Hoechst Celanese Chem. Group, Inc., 906 F. Supp. 1120 (S.D. Tex. 1995), aff'd, 101 F.3d 1090 (5th Cir. 1996); Atchison v. Houston Lighting & Power Co., No. 96-20023 (S.D. Tex.), aff'd, 91 F.3d 140 (5th Cir. 1996) (table); Hartnett v. Texas Commerce Bank, No. 97-11086 (N.D. Tex. 1997), aff'd, 140 F.3d 1037 (5th Cir. 1998) (table); and Maddox v. Pennunion Energy Servs., L.L.C., No. 99-20080 (S.D. Tex.), aff'd, 200 F.3d 816 (5th Cir. 1999) (table). After leaving Baker Botts, Ms. Brisch expanded her practice to include representing both plaintiffs and defendants in state court litigation. Among other things, Ms. Brisch successfully prosecuted arbitration claims arising from the breach of an executive employment agreement, and also assisted in several high-profile appeals of large oil and gas matters. These cases involved issues as diverse as royalty class action litigation, gas processing agreements, and adverse possession. Most recently, Ms. Brisch served as a Staff Attorney on the Fourteenth Court of Appeals, a position which gave her an opportunity to hone her specialized expertise in appellate practice, procedure, and advocacy. In addition to practicing law, Ms. Brisch is interested in the field of medical ethics. For three years, she has assisted in teaching the first year medical ethics course at Baylor College of Medicine. She has also served on a bioethics working group to study the role of hope in pediatric cancer trials. REPORTED CASES EDUCATION © 2006 Ahmad, Zavitsanos & Anaipakos. Attorneys at Law. All rights reserved |