Bio
Jennifer Karnes is a Shareholder in Becker’s New York office and a member of the Firm’s Litigation and Community Association practice groups. A former Brooklyn felony prosecutor and experienced litigator, Ms. Karnes is a zealous advocate for her clients, adept at handling a variety of complex litigation matters. She has successfully tried numerous cases to verdict in state and federal courts, and authored motions and appeals, involving novel issues of first impression. At Becker, Ms. Karnes primarily focuses her practice on complex commercial, cooperative/condominium, and general real estate-related litigation, in both federal and state trial and appellate courts. She also provides strategic legal guidance to cooperative and condominium boards as General Counsel.
Her recent experience includes successfully defending a cooperative board against challenges to the board’s “objectionable conduct” determination, securing court orders on behalf of a cooperative board to enforce a shareholder’s lease obligations, representing the holder of unsold units of a condominium in multiple litigations stemming from a catastrophic building fire, and representing the non-defaulting party in real property sale disputes. Ms. Karnes has secured significant judgments on behalf of a commercial landlord in numerous breach of lease disputes, and achieved favorable results in attorneys’ fees and judgment enforcement matters.
Prior to joining Becker, Ms. Karnes was a Partner at Anderson and Ochs LLP. Previously, Ms. Karnes practiced at a boutique litigation firm, representing deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals in disability discrimination lawsuits and plaintiffs in sexual harassment lawsuits. Ms. Karnes began her career as an Assistant District Attorney at the Kings County District Attorney’s Office, handling a wide range of felony matters, including serious matters that garnered local press attention involving attempted murder, robbery, and illegal weapon possession.
Ms. Karnes received her B.A from New York University. Ms. Karnes graduated magna cum laude from the University of Buffalo School of Law, where she served on the Editorial Boards of the Buffalo Law Review and the Buffalo Human Rights Law Review, and was a member of the Buffalo Moot Court Board. During law school, Ms. Karnes completed clerkships in the chambers of the late Honorable Michael A. Telesca in the United States District Court for the Western District of New York and in the chambers of the Honorable Eugene M. Fahey, then of the New York State Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Fourth Department. She also served as a summer law clerk for the United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of New York.
Ms. Karnes is admitted to practice in New York and New Jersey and before the United States Court of Appeals for the Second and Fifth Circuits, and the United States District Courts for the Eastern, Western, and Southern Districts of New York, the Eastern District of Michigan, and the Eastern District of Wisconsin. She has been admitted on a pro hac vice basis to other federal courts throughout the country.
Ms. Karnes serves on the Litigation Committee of the New York City Bar Association. She is an active volunteer for the Red Door Community (f/k/a Gilda’s Club New York City) as a Member of the Associate Board and the Gala Committee.
COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT
- Member of the Litigation Committee of the New York City Bar Association
- Associate Board Member and Gala Committee Member of Red Door Community (f/k/a Gilda’s Club New York City), a non-profit cancer support organization
AWARDS
- Super Lawyers Rising Stars 2022-2023