Professional Experience
Karen collaborates with her clients to develop proactive strategies designed to enhance workplace productivity and avoid employment disputes. She provides legal counsel and human resources advice to management, and conducts training programs for both management and employees. Karen performs internal audits of clients' employment practices to ensure strategic compliance with current laws, and guides client investigations of employee allegations regarding harassment, discrimination, and employee theft or other misconduct. When litigation arises, Karen aggressively defends her clients against employment law claims in the state and federal courts as well as administrative hearings, arbitrations, and mediations. She is a skilled litigator and negotiator, having successfully resolved hundreds of claims in favor of her management clients.
A frequent speaker on employment law topics, Karen conducts numerous webinars, seminars and training programs for managers and employees in all areas of employment practices and policies. She is a recurring speaker at LightGabler LLP’s monthly employment law programs, covering a variety of employment law topics for employers, managers and human resource professionals. Karen also serves as a regular speaker for a variety of business and industry groups, including multiple chapters of the Professionals in Human Resources Association (PIHRA) and the Employer Advisory Council (EAC), among others.
Each year for more than a decade, Karen has been named as a Southern California “Super Lawyer” by Los Angeles Magazine, a ranking of the top 5% of attorneys in over 70 practice groups in the state of California. She has been named in successive years as one of the “Top 50 Women in Business” and “Who’s Who In Professional Services” by the Pacific Coast Business Times. Karen also has received or been nominated for multiple awards in successive years by the San Fernando Valley Business Journal, including “Women in Business,” “Valued Mentors,” and “Most Trusted Advisors.”
Karen served as an Adjunct Professor at the Pepperdine University School of Law, where she taught classes in employment law, employment law advice and counsel, and employment law litigation. She has been a guest speaker for classes at the Ventura College of Law and California Lutheran University. Karen has authored numerous articles on employment law topics for the Los Angeles Daily Journal, San Francisco Daily Journal, San Fernando Valley Business Journal, Workplace Violence Reporter, Economic Development Collaborative-Ventura County Impact, Simi Valley Chamber of Commerce Business Advocate and Moorpark Chamber of Commerce Business News. She has been interviewed as an expert on employment law topics by the Ventura County Star, the Pacific Coast Business Times and Workforce: HR Trends & Tools for Business Results.
For over three decades, Karen Gabler has counseled employers in all aspects of employment law, including:
For over two decades, Karen Gabler has counseled employers in all aspects of employment law, including:
- Disabilities and leaves of absence
- Wrongful termination
- Discrimination, harassment & retaliation
- Defamation & invasion of privacy
- Breach of contract
- Protection of employer trade secrets & confidential information
- Unfair competition
- Executive compensation models & agreements
- Workplace privacy
- Internal investigations & audits
- Employee discipline
- Hiring
- Wage and hour matters
- Social media in the workplace
- Pandemic management and benefits
- Development and revision of employee handbooks & personnel policies
- Training and preventive counseling for employee relations and litigation avoidance
- United Way of Ventura County
- Simi Valley Community Foundation
- Simi Valley Hospital Foundation
- Professionals in Human Resources Association
- East Ventura County Employer Advisory Council
- Western Ventura County Employer Advisory Council
- Simi Valley Education Foundation
- The Wellness Community Valley/Ventura
- Simi Valley Chamber of Commerce
- Greater Conejo Valley Chamber of Commerce
- Camarillo Chamber of Commerce
- Ventura Chamber of Commerce
- Oxnard Chamber of Commerce
- Women’s Information Network of Simi Valley
- J.D., William S. Richardson School of Law, University of Hawaii, 1992
- B.A., Psychology, University of Hawaii, 1989
Community
Karen is an active member of the community. She has received 805 Living Magazine’s "Giving Back" award and the United Way of Ventura County’s Milton M. Teague Award for community service. Karen has volunteered as a mentor and coach for the Hillside Middle School Mock Trial Team. She has served as an officer, director or member of numerous business and philanthropic organizations, including:
Education
Personal
Karen resides in Simi Valley with her husband and their two children. She is a competitive hunter-jumper rider and has won numerous show ribbons with her horses. As a former resident of Hawaii, Karen was a member of a hula halau (dance troupe) and performed at Honolulu's Thomas Square and the Waikiki Aquarium.