Engage's Member Spotlight: Fitzgerald Law

Karen is a different lawyer: she’s happy, honest, and gives her clients candid assessments of the problems and honest advice about options. She won’t tell clients what they want to hear, she will tell them what they must hear, including real world options. Clients must know what they are getting into, without sugar coating. So, Karen helps her clients understand both the legal issues and the real-world impact on their life and business. Clients need a path forward, and Karen will help them make the right choices.

Karen has been practicing law since 1989 and is Board Certified in Labor and Employment law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. She graduated from Louisiana State University with a degree in Advertising and then from University of Texas School of Law with honors in 1989.

Not all lawyers love what they do, but Karen does. She enjoys guiding her clients through difficult situations and finding solutions for their problems. She takes the counseling part of her practice seriously, which is why she focuses so hard on giving her clients candid advice every step of the way. If her clients understand what is happening in their cases and why, she’s doing her job right. 

Karen represents and counsels individuals about numerous employment issues that include:  

•  Discrimination claims of all types 

•  Retaliation claims

•  ADAAA claims

•  Age Discrimination claim

•  Overtime/wage and hour claims

•  Equal pay claims

•  Employment contract claims

•  Family and Medical Leave Act claims

•  Unpaid wages, bonuses and commissions

•  Misappropriation and theft of trade secrets claims

•  Analysis of severance agreements

•  Analysis of non-competition and non-solicitation agreements

•  Drafting and analysis of employment contracts

•  Drafting and analysis of physician employment agreements

Karen has been named a “Super Lawyer” in the Thomson Reuters Super Lawyer’s Edition for every year since 2005. She has also been named as a “Best Lawyer” in The Best Lawyers in America since 2012. She is also valued as a neutral arbitrator and serves as a “Neutral” on the American Arbitration Association’s Employment Law panel.

1. What inspired you to start your own law firm?

 I have been toying with the idea for several years. I was a partner in a large law firm for the first 12 years of my career and then a partner in several small boutiques. I decided that the time was right to be “captain of my own ship” and made the jump to solo practice.

2. What kind of law do you practice? Why did you want to go into that area?

I practice plaintiff’s employment law. I represent individuals who have an issue with a current or former employer. I did not initially start out practicing this kind of law. However, when I got to this, I knew I had finally found the perfect fit for me. I love helping individuals get through a tough time and find it very satisfying when I can help someone make peace with a tough work situation. 

3. What do you wish someone had told you before starting your own practice? 

Learn how to make peace with technology hiccups. That is my greatest frustration and I think it is just part of practicing law today.

4. What makes your practice different from others?

I’m very honest with my clients. Often, I spend more time telling potential clients NOT to pursue a legal claim than I do getting new clients in the door with claims that will turn into a lawsuit. I want my client to understand what it will look like and feel like to go through a legal dispute before he/she decides to go down that path. Because of this, I do charge consultation fees for any prospective new clients. Many of my peers do not do that, but I have found it is really important for clients to have a financial stake in a matter—even if it is just a 1-hour consultation fee.

5. What will your practice look like in 5 years?

 I have no idea! That is the beauty of change. I’m excited to see how it will change over the next few years.

6. Have you ever worked from exclusively home (i.e., no other office to go to, except perhaps for a virtual office) If so, what did you like about that location/situation? What did you most dislike? 

I have never worked exclusively from a home office and have always actively resisted it. I’m one of those people who want a very hard separation between home and office. If I need to work late, I’d rather go home, change clothes, eat something and then come back to my office and work than try to work from home. I’ve always wanted to have an office environment within which to work.

7. How do you expect Engage to help you meet your goals?

Engage is perfect for what I need right now. It is a turn-key operation that gives me everything I need to run my own law firm, while still providing me a friendly, collegial office environment. I love that I basically have everything I need to run my own firm but am not alone all day in an office with no other human contact.  

If you’d like more information on Karen Fitzgerald and her practice, check out her website. If you want to know more about Engage, please visit our website and book a tour. 

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