Philpot, Eric H.

Karine graduated with honors from the University of Southern California in 1993 with a major is Philosophy and minors in Business and Russian, having completed the Thematic Options Honors Program.  She continued her studies at the Gould School of Law at USC, during which time she worked as a research assistant to Professor Elyn Saks in the area of Mental Health Law, and externed with the Criminal Division of the US Attorneys Office and with Federal District Judge Dickran M. Tevrizian.  During law school, Karine also began her employment at Girardi & Keese where she gained invaluable civil litigation experience working on class-action tort cases.

In 1997, Karine joined the Los Angeles City Attorney's Office where she dedicated herself to prosecuting domestic violence, child abuse, molestation, and neglect, as well as elder abuse.  During the near decade with the City Attorney's Office, Karine also assisted in the training of newly-hired prosecutors on general trial tactics and the unique challenges of prosecuting domestic violence cases.  She served as the office's liaison to a delegation of Russian prosecutors and law enforcement officials who were drafting the first domestic violence and child abuse laws for the Russian Federation.  She also volunteered as a teacher to at-risk elementary children in dowtown Los Angeles.
    
Karine returned to civil practice in 2006 specializing in estate planning and business law.  In 2010, she also returned to her alma mater where she served as legal counsel to USC's student population on a variety of legal issues involving landlord/tenant law, criminal law, business/contract law, immigration and labor law.  

Karine is a single mom of two children - Lexi (12) and Nikko (10).  She serves as the Vice-Chairlady of their school's parent teacher organization.  She has volunteered as an AYSO assistant coach for her daughter's team and as team accountant for her son's club soccer team.  Her interests include USC football, soccer, tennis, reading and travel.