Karen Howell joined Brunini in 2006, focusing on litigation. Karen is everyone's "go to person". She received her Bachelor's degree cum laude in Business Administration from Mississippi College in 2003. Karen received her Juris Doctor magna cum laude from the Mississippi College School of Law in 2006, where she served as a Senior Editor of the Mississippi College Law Review and earned American Jurisprudence Awards for best paper in Administrative Law, Constitutional Law, Employment Discrimination, Health Care Law, and Labor Law.

Representative Matters

• Obtain dismissal of claims against Trustmark, as time-barred. [Soriano v. Trustmark, et al.]. The Plaintiff filed the action against his accountant and Trustmark alleging misappropriation of funds by the accountant and the failure of an unstated legal duty by Trustmark with regard to the bank account opened in connection with the Plaintiff's bankruptcy. The Court agreed with Trustmark's assertion of federal jurisdiction. The Court went on to explain that "[t]he Complaint provides neither a specific cause of action against Trustmark nor a factual basis supporting a plausible claim ....". Although no specific cause of action could be gleaned from the Complaint, the alleged conduct occurred more than three years prior to the filing of the Complaint and, thus, was barred by the statute of limitations.

• Obtains partial summary judgment on the central issue of lease termination.  The lease was for underground storage of natural gas and hydrocarbon liquids. Although payment under the lease was not tendered on the due date, the Court found that  time was not of the essence under the lease and that there was no lease provision for termination for late payment of rental. Therefore, the remedy for failing to tender payment timely was not termination of the lease.  Leaf River Energy Center, LLC v. Ford, No. 3:10cv49 (S.D. Miss. 2011) [Leaf River Opinion and Order]

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• Riley v. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Mississippi, et al., No. 3:09cv674 (S.D. Miss. 2011)(grant of summary judgment in ERISA action finding Blue Cross was not a proper part to the action and finding that claim for breach of fiduciary duty was barred since claim for benefits was filed)
  
  
• Summary Judgment in favor of client Lender Processing Services, Inc. in US Bankruptcy Court, Northern District of Mississippi. Court found LPS had no involvement in underlying bankruptcy action and thus could not have been involved in alleged fee sharing and unauthorized practice of law.  Thorne v. LPS, et al., Adversary Proceeding No.: 10-01172-DWH (2011).
  
  
• Rich Ellison v. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Mississippi, 529 F.Supp.2d 620 (S.D. Miss. 2007)(ERISA action; summary judgment granted to Blue Cross)

Community & Professional Activities

• Mississippi Bar Association
• American Bar Association
• Jackson Young Lawyers Association
• Jackson Junior League