Established 27 years ago by Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, Sanctuary for Families, and Columbia Law School, the Abely Awards honor individuals who have made a difference in the lives of survivors of gender violence and who embody Maryellen Abely’s compassion, zeal, energy, and dedication.

This year, we are thrilled to present the 2024 Abely Pro Bono Award to Karen King.

INTRODUCING KAREN

A Partner at Morvillo Abramowitz Grand Iason & Anello PC, Karen King is a skilled trial attorney and advocate who has represented both institutional and individual clients in federal and state courts across the country.  Karen has been practicing for over 24 years, and began her legal career as an associate at Cravath, Swaine & Moore, and later as Counsel at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP.  Her regular practice focuses on complex commercial litigation, compliance and regulatory enforcement matters, securities litigation and regulation, internal investigations, and strategic advice.  Karen was named a “Distinguished Leader” by New York Law Journal in September 2022 and a “Notable Woman in Law” by Crain’s New York Business in June 2023. 

Throughout her legal career, Karen has prioritized pro bono service. She was the recipient of the American Bar Association Pro Bono Publico award in 2023, the Federal Bar Council’s Thurgood Marshall Award for Exceptional Pro Bono Service in 2019, as well as the Pro Bono award from the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association.  She is a member of the Second Circuit Pro Bono Panel and the Asian American Bar Association of New York’s Anti-Asian Violence Task Force.  She is a co-editor of two papers on the rise of hate and violence against Asian Americans during the COVID-19 pandemic.  She also successfully litigated a decade-long Title VII case on behalf of Asian-American police officers at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.  Her pro bono clients include victims of domestic violence, students with learning disabilities, victims of gun violence, and prisoners on civil rights issues.

Over the past six years, Karen provided dedicated, strategic, and trauma-informed legal representation in an exceptionally complex case under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction involving a young Orthodox Jewish mother fleeing domestic violence in Italy with her two-year-old son.  The case moved from federal court in the Eastern District of New York to the United States Supreme Court and back to the Eastern District. Not only did Karen argue and secure a unanimous decision before the Supreme Court in favor of her client—a ruling that will benefit numerous other survivors around the country—but her critical work on the case helped ensure the child was ultimately able to remain safely in the care of his aunt, even after the tragic, premature death of the mother during the protracted litigation. Karen now co-chairs the Narkis Golan Initiative, named in honor of her late client, which provides resources to advance the rights of domestic violence survivors in child abduction cases around the country.

Karen holds a bachelor’s degree from Yale University and a juris doctorate from Harvard Law School.