Karen Dunn is a partner and co-chair of the Litigation Department at Paul, Weiss, where she has made public service a central piece of her career. Ms. Dunn, with her co-counsel, won a groundbreaking verdict against neo-Nazi and white supremacist movement leaders responsible for racially motivated violence in Charlottesville, Virginia in 2017.
Despite her national profile, Ms. Dunn has focused on supporting District residents throughout her career. In 2016, she secured an important victory for D.C. budget autonomy and home rule, which affirmed the right of DC government officials to control the city’s budget and paved the way for critical programs that support Legal Aid’s client community, including Access to Justice funding. Ms. Dunn also represented a group of parents who sued a synagogue in D.C. after they alleged their children were sexually abused at its preschool. In 2024, Ms. Dunn launched and currently co-leads Paul, Weiss’ Center to Combat Hate, which partners with civil rights organizations and educational institutions to bring impact litigation to confront and redress hate-driven violence and intimidation.
