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I would like to tell you about myself, including my
education and my experience. I am a fifth generation Houstonian. I attended
the University of Texas in Austin where I graduated Magna Cum Laude, Phi
Beta Kappa from Plan II, the Honor’s College. After graduation I entered
the University of Houston Law School and received my J.D. in 1982.
My legal career began in Washington, D.C. in the Office of
the General Counsel for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. After two
years in the nation’s capital, I returned to Houston. I spent two years as
in-house general counsel for Westheimer Transfer
and Storage Co., Inc. before joining the law firm of Andrews & Kurth. At Andrews & Kurth
I practiced in the litigation section and worked primarily on products
liability litigation for almost six years.
In addition to my passion for law I have always had great
interest in the psyche. I wanted to study and be a psychotherapist. To
further that goal I attended the University of Houston Graduate School of
Social Work at night while practicing law. In 1992 I transitioned into the
mental health field. After working a year at the Harris County Psychiatric
Center treating severely mentally ill patients and the Baylor Medical
School Outpatient Psychiatry Clinic, in 1993 I obtained my Master’s Degree
in Clinical Social Work. For the next six years I worked primarily in a
private psychiatric practice treating adults and adolescents as well as
couples and families, with some work also at inpatient psychiatric
hospitals. I worked with the entire range of disorders seen in the field
from patients with schizophrenia, psychosis, bipolar disorder, drug
dependency and suicidal ideation to those dealing with more common
complaints of anxiety and depression. It was extremely gratifying work and
an honor to be entrusted with my patients’ internal lives and help them see
alternative ways of viewing things and relating to others.
Finally, in 1999 I decided it was time to merge my two
degrees and I began my career as a trial consultant. After being associated
for two years with a trial consulting firm in Houston I decided it was time
for me to navigate my own ship and launched KAREN HURWITZ & ASSOCIATES,
Legal and Behavioral Consulting.
My entry into trial consulting was an ultimate goal of
mine - -the combination of two fields of study and experience that I am
passionate about. I love what I do and the creative challenges it presents.
Finding the avenues that enable jurors to empathize with my client’s case
is an exhilarating one for me that starts the moment I am hired. It’s about
finding the keys to unlock the jurors’ minds that allow them to feel the
essence of the case. I believe my knowledge and understanding of the law
and the interrelationships between the trial participants is a powerful
combination of skills that provides great value to my clients.
I am a member of The State Bar of Texas (Litigation
Section; Women in the Profession Committee 2006 - 2010; Task Force on
Lawyers' Mental Health 2006-08), The Houston Bar Association (Litigation
section; Gender Fairness Committee 2007 - 2010; AIDS Outreach Committee 2009 - 2010), The
American Society of Trial Consultants, The National Association of Social
Workers, and The Association of Women Attorneys ( Past President 2007-08 ).
I serve on the Anti-Defamation League's Civil Rights Committee.
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