Karen Woodward specializes in civil rights, employment and general litigation  matters.  Prior to joining Cruser & Mitchell, LLP, for over 10 years, Karen was a senior assistant city attorney with the City of Atlanta Law Department where she was lead counsel to the Atlanta Police Department and, previously, to the Atlanta Water Department and the Department of Corrections.   In this capacity, she provided daily advice and counsel to the police chief, members of City Council and other department heads.  Karen handled a number of extremely complex cases including cases regarding the alleged systemic mistreatment of the homeless, inadequate medical care in the jail, and unhealthy jail conditions, as well as civil rights conspiracy actions and freedom of speech cases   She has defended numerous alleged police misconduct and police shooting actions, motor vehicle lawsuits, and police pursuit cases, as well as employment discrimination matters asserting race, national origin, age, religion, disability, and sexual harassment claims.  Karen also clerked for Magistrate Judge John E. Dougherty of the United States District Court in Atlanta. 

Karen is a graduate of Duke University where she obtained a B.A. and Emory Law School where she obtained a J.D.  She has published a number of articles on these topics, including “Mob Violence and the Ku Klux Klan Act:  State of the Law After Park v. City of Atlanta,” Stetson Law Review, vol. 28, no. 3 (Winter 1999); “Attorney’s Fees in Civil Rights Litigation:  The Latest Developments,” Labor and Employment Law:  Rights and Benefits in the Workplace (special supplement to the Fulton County Daily Report), January, 1994; “Impact of the ADA on Employer-Provided Insurance:  Limiting the Potential Financial Burden of Health Care for AIDS Patients,”  The Labor Lawyer, vol. 8, no. 2 (Spring 1992).