Karen
Shatzkin has had a small-firm civil litigation practice for over 20 years and
has extensive courtroom experience, in addition to arbitrations and
appeals.A large number of her clients
are in creative fields, including film, design, publishing, music and fine
art.She has handled a wide range of
contract, copyright, trademark, employment and other civil matters, both in
litigation and transactions.
Ms. Shatzkin graduated from the American School of Paris,
France, and received her B.A. from the State University of New York at Buffalo (summa
cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa). She is a graduate of Columbia Law School, where she
was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar and received the Archie O. Dawson Prize for
proficiency in advocacy.
Ms. Shatzkin served as law clerk to U.S. District Judge Charles
M. Metzner in the Southern District of New York. Following her clerkship, Ms.
Shatzkin held positions with the City of New York, including Deputy Director of
Juvenile Justice in the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Criminal Justice and
Assistant Corporation Counsel in the Commercial Litigation Division of the New
York City Law Department. Ms. Shatzkin has had her own private practice since
1983.
Fluent in French, Ms. Shatzkin has represented numerous clients
from France and Belgium, as well as U.S. clients in their contractual dealings
with French parties. She also has also acted on either side of matters
involving residents and companies based in England (where she has had a second
home for many years) and other European countries.
Ms. Shatzkin has extensive experience providing legal counsel
for numerous documentary films and television productions.(A partial list of projects on which she has
worked appears at imdb.com.)She created
a day-long seminar on legal fundamentals for documentary artists and has served
on panels for both filmmakers and media attorneys on challenges faced by
documentary filmmakers.
