Karen is a partner at Wall Esleeck Babcock LLP.  Her practice focuses on estate planning, estate administration, corporate and tax law.  She also is a Certified Public Accountant.  Prior to joining Wall Esleeck Babcock, Karen was a partner at Robinson & Lawing LLP in Winston-Salem.  Prior to Robinson & Lawing, Karen practiced at Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, PLLC.

She is a member of the North Carolina Bar Association, Tax and Estate Planning Sections and is a member of the Forsyth County Bar Association.  Karen is a member of the Winston-Salem Estate Planning Council and has served on its board of trustees.  She has also served multiple terms on the Wake Forest University Planned Giving Council. 

Karen received a J.D. degree cum laude from Wake Forest University School of Law in 1985 and a B.S. degree, also from Wake Forest University, in 1982.  She has served as an Adjunct Professor at the Wake Forest University Babcock School of Management, where she taught “Federal Taxes and Management Decisions” to M.B.A. students.

An experienced speaker and author, Karen’s speaking topics have included “Children & Taxes” (North Carolina Bar Association Family Law Intensive Seminar on Bedded and Imbedded Taxes), “Marital Deduction Trusts and Uniform Transfers to Minors Act” (Wake Forest University School of Law CLE), “North Carolina Intangible Personal Property Tax” (Lorman Educational Services Seminars) and “Tax Aspects of Buy-Sell Agreements” (Law and Accountants Seminar).  She co-authored “North Carolina Limited Liability Company Forms and Practice Manual” for Data Trace Legal Publishers and “Corporate and Income Tax and Franchise Tax Summaries” for Prentice Hall’s North Carolina State and Local Tax Service.

Karen is included in the 2009 edition of The Best Lawyers in America and holds an AV rating from Martindale-Hubbell.

Karen is an active member of Knollwood Baptist Church, where she has served in a number of capacities, including deacon and past chair of the personnel, finance and missions committees.   Additionally, she contributes her time to charitable causes such as international medical mission trips to underserved populations and as a volunteer for Habitat for Humanity.  She is a former member of the board of trustees of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society of Central North Carolina.

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