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Burgess Law is small by choice, with a talented, nimble, and scalable team that uses experience and courtroom skills to deliver results for clients. Along with Karen Burgess, the core Burgess Law team includes attorneys Stacy Rogers Sharp and Katie Dolan-Galaviz and paralegal Eric Boucheron.

Karen Burgess

karen c. burgess

principal at burgess law

BIOGRAPHY

Karen C. Burgess is a trial lawyer—Board Certified in Civil Trial Law by the Texas Board of Specialization. Her practice ranges from trade secret disputes to securities, contract, insurance, real estate, oil and gas, partnership and fiduciary litigation.

Karen is a fellow of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers, the American College of Trial Lawyers and the International Society of Barristers. She serves as the Dean of the Academy and as a State Committee Member for the College. Karen has recently completed two terms as the elected treasurer of the National Board of Directors of the American Board of Trial Advocates and is currently a Trustee of the Foundation nationally and President of the Austin Chapter. She was a faculty member for the American Board of Trial Advocates’ National Trial College at Yale Law School in 2018 and is slated to participate again in 2021. Karen is a member of the American Law Institute, and in 2019, the Commercial Bar Association of England invited her to join COMBAR as an Honorary Overseas Member.

Karen enjoyed the honor of co-chairing the 2019 State Bar of Texas Annual Meeting and introducing keynote speeches by iconic newsman Dan Rather and acclaimed author Wil Haygood.

Thomson Reuters has named Karen a “Top 100 Super Lawyer” as well as a “Top 50 Women Super Lawyer in Texas” and a “Top 50 Central & West Texas Super Lawyer”. In 2011, Karen was selected a “Winning Woman” by Texas Lawyer, a designation reserved for only twenty attorneys in the state of Texas. The Travis County Women Lawyers Association chose Karen as Litigator of the Year for 2012. Lawdragon has repeatedly named Karen one of The 500 Leading Lawyers in America, and The Best Lawyers in America® (BL Rankings) lists Karen as a Best Lawyer for Commercial Litigation.

Stephanie and Bill Whitehurst named a University of Texas School of Law Public Interest Fellowship in her honor, and the University of Texas School of Law named her the 2018 Alumni Mentor of the Year.

Locally, Karen was the 2018-2019 President of the Lloyd Lochridge American Inn of Court, and she serves as a co-chair of the Austin nominating committee for the Texas Bar Foundation.

Karen is a frequent speaker on Business Torts, the Trade Secrets Act and the Fraudulent Transfer Act as well as other litigation topics, and she has served as course director for the University of Texas Page Keeton Civil Litigation Seminar and TexasBarCLE’s Business Disputes Course. She has co-chaired and spoken at the Austin Bench-Bar conference and has presented at the Hidalgo County Bar Association David H. Hockema Civil Trial Law Conference and the American Bar Association Intellectual Property Law Conference in Washington, D.C. Karen has participated in ABOTA’s Masters in Trial series and has conducted on-stage interviews for the International Academy of Trial Lawyer’s annual meeting and TEX-ABOTA’s Santa Fe conference.

Karen is active in the community. She is a past President of the People’s Community Clinic Foundation Board. Karen serves on the Foundation Board for the Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders, has done committee work for the Paramount Theater and is an elder of the Westlake Presbyterian Church.

Before practicing law in Austin, Karen earned her B.A. in Economics, Spanish, and Policy Studies from Rice University—where she had the opportunity to study at the Universidad Catolica in Valparaiso, Chile.

Karen is married to a commercial transactions attorney, Brian Burgess. Karen and Brian are proud parents to two college students.

honors & distinctions

– International Academy of Trial Lawyers

– American College of Trial Lawyers

– American Board of Trial Advocates

– International Society of Barristers

– American Law Institute

– Commercial Bar Association of England Honorary Overseas Member

– Texas State Bar Annual Meeting, 2019 Co-Chair

– Board Certified in Civil Trial Law, Texas Board of Legal specialization

– AV® Preeminent™ 5.0 out of 5, Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review Rating

– “Top 100 Texas Super Lawyer” (Thomson Reuters) as featured in Texas Monthly® 2019

– “Top 50 Women Super Lawyer” (Thomson Reuters) as featured in Texas Monthly® 2014, 2016, 2019 and 2020

– “Top 50 Central & West Texas Super Lawyer” (Thomson Reuters) as featured in Texas Monthly® 2014-2016 and 2018-2020

– “Super Lawyer” (Thomson Reuters) as featured in Texas Monthly® 2012-present; “Rising Star” (Thomson Reuters) as featured in Texas Monthly® 2004-2011

– Lawdragon 500 Leading Lawyers in America, 2016-present

– The Best Lawyers in America® (BL Rankings) Commercial Litigation 2017-present

– Travis County Women Lawyers Association “Litigator of the Year” 2012

– Texas Lawyer’s “Winning Women” 2011 (1 of only 20)

– “Karen C. Burgess Public Interest Fellowship” awarded by the Whitehurst Family in 2018

– University of Texas School of Law Alumni Mentor of the Year Award 2018

leadership roles

– International Academy of Trial Lawyers–Board of Directors, Secretary/Treasurer 2018-2021; Dean 2021-2022
– American Board of Trial Advocates–National Board of Directors, Treasurer 2018-2020;
President of Austin Chapter 2021; Foundation Trustee 2021-2024
– State Bar of Texas Annual Meeting–Co-Chair 2019
– Lloyd Lochridge American Inn of Court–President 2018-2019
– Texas Bar Foundation Fellow and District Nominating Committee Co-Chair
– Austin Bar Association Civil Litigation Section–Chair 2013

PRESENTATIONS & PAPERS

– American Board of Trial Advocates National Trial College at Yale Law School, Faculty 2018
– UT Page Keeton Civil Litigation Seminar, presenter/presiding officer 2011-present; Course Director 2014 and 2018
– TexasBarCLE Business Disputes, presenter/presiding officer 2015-present; Course Director 2016
– Austin Bar Association Bench Bar, Co-Chair 2014; presenter 2016 and 2018
– TexasBarCLE Collections & Creditor’s Rights, presenter 2018 and 2021
– Hidalgo County Bar Association David H. Hockema Civil Trial Law Conference, presenter 2016, 2018
– Dallas Bar Association Trial Skills Section, presenter 2018
– Baylor Law Legal Mapmaker, presenter 2016-2019
– TexasBarCLE Advanced Evidence and Discovery, presenter 2016, 2018
– UT School of Law Winning at Deposition: Skills and Strategy, presenter 2017, 2021
– TexasBarCLE Winning Your Case Before Trial, presenter 2016
– Advanced Evidence and Discovery Course, presenter 2016
– American Bar Association Intellectual Property Law Conference in Washington, D.C., presenter 2014

education

University of Texas School of Law
Austin, Texas 1996
Doctor of Jurisprudence, Order of the Barristers

Rice University
Houston, Texas 1992
Bachelor of Arts in Economics, Spanish, and Policy Studies

Universidad Catolica
Valparaiso, Chile 1990
Studied Latin American History and Policy
**Fluent in Spanish

court admissions

– Licensed by the Supreme Court of Texas, 1996
– U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas
– U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas
– U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas
– U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit

community

– People’s Community Clinic Foundation Board of Trustees—President 2015
– Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders—
Foundation Board; Chair of Governance Committee
– Paramount Theater—Gala Auction Chair 2015
– Westlake Hills Presbyterian Church—Church Elder

BIOGRAPHY

Stacy Rogers Sharp is a litigation attorney focusing on legal research, writing and civil procedure. She practices at the trial and appellate levels in civil matters involving a wide range of disputes including trade secrets, business torts, partnerships and corporations, securities, banking, real property, contracts, insurance, and oil and gas. In addition to her law practice, Stacy has taught legal research and writing at the University of Texas School of Law as a full-time member of the faculty and, most recently, as an adjunct professor.

Stacy began her career clerking for the Honorable Lee Yeakel, U.S. District Judge for the Western District of Texas, where she handled a heavy civil docket, then practiced complex commercial trial and appellate litigation at Baker Botts LLP. She served as the 2013-2014 President of the Federal Bar Association’s Austin Chapter and was recently elected as an American Bar Foundation Fellow. She also sits on the State Bar of Texas’s Child Abuse & Neglect Committee. Her publications and papers include:

“Texas Business Torts: Recent Developments in Claims and Remedies,” Page Keeton Civil Litigation Conference (Nov. 2017) (with Karen C. Burgess).

“Texas Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act,” State Bar of Texas Annual Summer School Course (July 2018) (with Karen C. Burgess)

“Crafting Responses to Counterarguments: Learning from the Swing-Vote Cases,” 10 Legal Comm. & Rhetoric (Fall 2013).

“The Limited Exceptions to Limitations in Oil and Gas Cases,” 57 The Advocate 63 (Winter 2011).

“Retroactive Laws: When Never Means Sometimes,” Texas Association of Defense Counsel Conference (March 2009) (with Thomas R. Phillips).

Stacy is admitted to practice in Texas, the District Court for the Western District of Texas, and Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. A 2006 graduate of the University of Texas School of Law, Stacy was named a Chancellor, served on the Texas Law Review, and received a Texas Law Fellowship. She also served as a judicial intern for the Honorable Nathan Hecht of the Texas Supreme Court.

A former teacher, Stacy taught math and science in Honduras, the South Bronx, and Austin before practicing law. She now serves on the Alamo Heights School District’s Education Advisory Council. She is fluent in Spanish. Stacy is a graduate of Vanderbilt University, where she received a B.S. in Mathematics, Spanish, and Educational Studies in 2000.

Outside of practice, Stacy, her husband, and their three children have served as a foster family for children who are removed from their homes for abuse or neglect and they are active members of Redeemer Presbyterian Church, San Antonio.

BIOGRAPHY

Katie Dolan-Galaviz is an experienced trial attorney who advocates with tireless dedication, whether in writing, in the courtroom, or at any other stage of litigation.

Katie’s practice focuses on complex commercial litigation. Her representation has covered a range of commercial issues, including fraud, trade secret theft, partnership disputes, oil and gas, franchise-related controversies, and contract and UCC disputes.

Katie has extensive experience in all aspects of litigation: early case assessment, litigation risk analysis, alternative dispute resolution procedures, large-scale discovery including electronic document collection, review, and production, motion practice, pre-trial preparation, trial, settlement, and appeals.

Katie was a key member of AT&T’s DIRECTV trial team in a $4 billion trial brought by the Federal Trade Commission for alleged deceptive advertising. On August 16, 2018, after two weeks of trial, the federal District Court for the Northern District of California dismissed the majority of the FTC’s case, after which the FTC voluntarily dismissed the remainder of its case with prejudice.

In 2019, Katie represented AT&T against false advertising and deceptive trade practices claims in a lawsuit filed by Sprint in the Southern District of New York. Sprint sought an injunction against AT&T’s advertising of certain 5G technologies.

Also, in 2019, Katie won a temporary injunction in favor of the leading provider of property management software solutions against a former employee and his new company. After obtaining the favorable temporary injunction and a spoliation ruling, the parties settled the case.

Before joining Burgess Law, Katie was an associate in the commercial litigation section of a large international law firm for six years and a senior associate at a litigation boutique in Dallas, Texas.

BIOGRAPHY

Eric Boucheron works closely with clients, and leverages technology to efficiently and effectively manage complex business litigation. He brings those skills into the courtroom during hearings and trials, often becoming the court’s trusted source for information.

Before his career as a paralegal, Eric graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in graphic design from the State University of New York at Oswego. Art is still a central part of Eric’s life. So is his bicycle. Eric rides every day, clocking well over 7,000 miles each year.

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