I would like to tell you about myself, including my education and my experience. 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 approximately the next six years I worked in a private psychiatric practice treating adults and adolescents as well as couples and families, with some work also in an inpatient psychiatric hospital. I worked with the entire range of disorders seen in the field, from the severely suicidal and drug dependent to those who dealt with more common levels of anxiety and depression. I worked with individuals who struggled to balance the stresses of work and family and achieve an inner harmony in their life. This ultimately I believe is the common struggle for us all.

Finally, in 1999 I decided it was time to merge my two degrees and I began my career as a trial consultant. It was a natural combination and one that I have truly loved. After being associated for two years with a trial-consulting firm in Houston I decided it was time for me to fulfill my dream of navigating my own ship and launched KAREN HURWITZ & ASSOCIATES, Legal and Behavioral Consulting.

I am a member of The State Bar of Texas (Litigation Section; Women in the Profession Committee 2006 - ; Task Force on Lawyers' Mental Health 2006-08), The Houston Bar Association (Gender Fairness Committee 2007 -  ), The American Society of Trial Consultants, The National Association of Social Workers, and The Association of Women Attorneys (Immediate Past President 2007-08, President 2006-07, President Elect 2005-06, Board Member 2004-05, Treasurer 2003-04). I am also a Member of the Anti-Defamation League's Civil Rights Committee and a former board member.