Karen A. Barth

About Karen Barth Menzies After nearly three years as a solo practitioner, attorney Karen Barth Menzies has merged KBM Law with the Justice Law Collaborative, a female-led firm dedicated to fighting for womens issues. Karen founded KBM Law when California and New York temporarily suspended the statute of limitations for sexual assault lawsuits. Survivors with documented claims had two years to initiate legal action before the legal window closed. Several women asked Karen to represent their claims, but the firm she worked with at the time decided they werent a good fit for the litigation because the statutes were novel, and the lawsuits required significant individual attention. With the clock ticking on the statutory window, the best way she could continue to help the survivors was to go it alone. The cases proved every bit as difficult as she expected-and in ways she couldnt have imagined. Karen knew shed need additional resources but struggled to find co-counsel who were up for the challenge. These difficult, righteous fights that go against the grain in the legal world, theyre hard to do as a solo practitioner, Karen says, and theyre even harder to do with a firm that isnt like-minded. The founders of Justice Law Collaborative, Kim Dougherty and Paula Bliss, share Karens values, and they agreed to help Karen take on her tough cases. They had the attitude of Lets just fight as hard as we can because no one else will, Karen says. Strength in numbers means were going to be able to do so much more, and our clients will benefit from the experience and the creativity generated by the group. The Influence of Ruth Bader Ginsburg Early in her career, Karen had to fight against the grain in the competitive, male-dominated civil plaintiffs bar. As a woman, Karen says, you had to fight harder to be recognized and for your voice to be heard. Around that time, Ruth Bader Ginsburg earned her seat on the United States Supreme Court, and Karen found inspiration in the judges storied career. By her gender, by her size-she personifies the person you would underestimate the most, Karen says, but proved time and again her brilliance in achieving justice for the vulnerable and disenfranchised by using the systems tools against those in power. Karen was impressed by Ginsburgs ability to make incremental changes from inside the system. She figured out ways to get justice completely against the grain by tapping into her opponents beliefs without them even realizing it, Karen says. She points to the 1972 Moritz case that Ginsburg prosecuted on behalf of a man who accused the IRS of gender discrimination for denying his deductions for expenses related to the care of his elderly mother-solely because he was a man. Until then, the government generally only recognized women as caregivers. Ginsburg won the case, and the ramifications have benefited the cause of gender equality. She used a case involving a mans civil rights, Karen says, to score a victory for women in their fight for civil rights. When the government recognizes that both men and women can be primary caregivers, it allows women more equal footing with men in their professional careers. Ginsburg said, Women will have achieved true equality when men share with them the responsibility of bringing up the next generation. Karen believes Ginsburgs creativity as a litigator made her a more remarkable Supreme Court Justice. I dont know if she would have been as good at being The Dissenter in the Supreme Court, Karen says, if she hadnt already gone against the grain for so long and had the courage to stick to stand her ground, never deviating from her core values. I believed if I could hold onto my own individuality in the face of my parents concerns, the people I care the most about, then later in life, when Im pressured or even asked to do something unethical or back down from a fight, Ill have the foundation I need not to cave in. Karens Rebellious Beginnings A teenager in the 1980s, Karen identified with the defiant individualism embodied in punk rock culture. In the era of President Reagans trickle-down economics and the conservative-imposed views of the so-called moral majority, Karen was drawn to the social justice and the freedom of individuality ethos of the punk movement. Always a champion for the underdog, Karen got a taste for fighting against the grain, and its part of what drew her to the legal profession. To the dismay of her parents, as a young adult, Karen dyed her hair and dressed unconventionally. Why do you have to look like that? her parents asked. Why do you have to be so rebellious? Karen told them her rebellion was a statement against the pressures of conformity. I believed if I could hold onto my own individuality, Karen says, in the face of my parents concerns, the people I care the most about, then later in life, when Im pressured or even asked to do something unethical or back down from a fight, Ill have the foundation I need not to cave in. That foundation was tested numerous times throughout her career-most notably after she left her partnership position at a large firm to begin her solo practice, and she had to take a hard stand against colleagues who she felt were not operating in her clients best interests. Punk Rock Meets RBG A few years ago, Karen translated her love of listening to punk music to playing punk music-and all sorts of other musical genres. She took up the bass and joined forces with a handful of other female lawyers to form a rock band. A few times a year, they unite at legal conferences and entertain friends and curious onlookers with their favorite cover tunes. The kick drum features the likeness of Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The band is called ... The Dissenters. View Karens professional biography at Justice Law Collaborative