Karen Vladeck might actually be five different people. Michelle Tanner may have been played by Mary Kate and Ashley, but had the character been Karen Vladeck, they would’ve needed to rope in Elizabeth and a couple of extras. An employment attorney by training, legal Twitter influencer1 by nature, parenting podcaster by choice, wife to a meme2 by luck, and recruiter by calling, Karen makes multi-hyphenates look lazy.
A native Bostonian, Karen began her professional life at 13 in her uncle’s candy store in Copley Place Mall. Unfortunately, she was literally a kid in a candy shop which didn’t bode well for her take-home pay. After completing her BA at Cornell and her JD at Miami, Karen began her law career as a law clerk on the Court of Appeals of Maryland, before practicing in the Washington, DC offices of Offit Kurman and Arent Fox. In 2016, she moved to Austin, Texas (hook ‘em horns), where she became a partner at Wittliff Cutter, representing corporate, start-up, and non-profit clients in a bunch of different kinds of disputes, most of which had extremely crazy fact patterns because people do strange stuff at work. Karen has won all the awards that the lawyers win (Super Lawyers, Best of Austin, Martindale) but she always felt that her true calling was in helping other lawyers find their dream jobs.
So why Whistler? Karen was introduced to the team by her TikTok scene partner, Alex Su. She needed no introduction on our end though because we had already been watching her videos (reposted on Linkedin, we’re too old to figure out how to use TikTok). Her authenticity on social media, sharing the realities of being a high-achieving attorney while parenting two daughters and a pug, fits perfectly with the Whistler ethos of helping attorneys bring their whole selves to work. Plus Sean is relieved to finally have a team member who posts more than he does (although it's still hotly debated who is more controversial).
"I would love to be able to fall asleep on airplanes. That is a true super power, especially for a tired mom.”
“Not a quote but I had a college boyfriend who I celebrated Christmas with a couple of times. His mom cooked *every person in the family* their favorite dish for Christmas Eve dinner. At 19 I was like oh that’s cute; at 37 I’m like ARE YOU INSANE WOMAN?”
“I love the Bravo Housewives, but I am not ashamed of that!”
1 You know how Instagram influencers get free leggings or trips to the Maldives (it’s a real sliding scale)? Well, legal Twitter influencers get to represent badass clients, which is also really cool.
2 You know the one: