“I believe the combination of lawyer and psychotherapist is ideal for my work. My clients wholeheartedly agree.”

Karen Hurwitz, J.D., L.C.S.W.

 

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.