Karen L. Hart

Partner at Bell Nunally

Karen Hart is a business attorney with over a decade of experience litigating commercial disputes.
Karen counsels clients on real estate and landlord-tenant matters as well as various contract and business disputes. She is a tireless advocate for her clients, providing guidance on business legal matters, such as lease, purchase and sale, brokerage and property management disputes, specific performance claims, commercial evictions, lis pendens, lien and bond claims, lien priority disputes, promissory note claims, commercial foreclosures, bankruptcy claims, professional ethics and liability matters, bills of review, confidentiality, non-competition and non-solicitation agreements and related disputes and injunctive proceedings, and business tort claims, including tortious interference with contracts and business relationships, civil theft, fraud, and misappropriation of trade secret claims.

With a growing global client base, Karen also handles international dispute resolution, including international litigation, arbitration, and mediation. Karen uses creative pre-litigation negotiation and risk management techniques to keep her clients out of court. She also employs innovative asset investigation and preservation and judgment enforcement tactics, including domestications and international enforcement of judgments and arbitral awards.

Education
• The University Of Texas School Of Law, J.D., With Honors, 2001
• The University Of Texas At EL PASO, B.A., English Literature/Political Science, With Highest Honors, 1997

Practice Areas
• Business Litigation and Appeals
• Real Estate
• International

Admitted To Practice
• State Bar Of Texas
• United States Supreme Court
• United States Court Of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
• United States Court Of Appeals for the Eight Circuit
• United States Court Of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
• United States Court Of Appeals for the Northern, Eastern, Southern AND Western Districts Of Texas

Representative Matters
• Obtained declaratory judgment of priority of receiver’s lis pendens claim to $1 million dollar property, quieting title in receiver over competing lien claimant, prevailing at every level of appeal, including the U.S. Supreme Court.
• Obtained judgment in a breach of lease case and litigated hotly contested, complex garnishment of connected parent and subsidiary accounts.
• Obtained judgment for supplier in suit on account and to foreclose construction lien and bond claims in Louisiana state court, creatively domesticating judgment in Texas for collection.
• Obtained judgment for Canadian broadcasting company against organization in broadcast dispute, garnished multiple accounts post-judgment, and secured settlement and payment.
• Litigated complex, subordinated promissory note claims for Canadian production company, resulting in settlement and payment.
• Defended South American pharmacy chain in employment and trade secret misappropriation case in federal court, resulting in settlement and dismissal of claims.
• Resolved national restaurant chain’s constructive eviction claims.
• Resolved breach of restrictive use covenant at regional shopping center.
• Litigated negligence claims arising from international shipment stolen from Customs Centralized Examination Station.
• Defended medical clinic against competitor asserting tortious interference, civil theft, and misappropriation of trade secrets claims arising from physician non-competition agreements, achieving settlement and dismissal of claims.
• Obtained judgment on promissory note and order of foreclosure on luxury house boat involved in dealer fraud.
• Secured injunctive relief protecting small business from larger competitor’s wrongful interference with customer contracts/relationships through business disparagement campaign arising from a software ownership dispute.
• Obtained award against French distributor of surgical lenses manufactured in U.S. in international commercial arbitration.

Noteworthy
• 2017 Leadership Council on Legal Diversity Fellow
• Selected by attorney peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America®, 2017
• American Bar Association Section of Litigation Outstanding Subcommittee Chair Award for the Real Estate, Condemnation & Trust Litigation Committee, 2016
• Serves as Bell Nunnally’s Risk Management Counsel
• Texas Lawyer, Winning Women Award Honoree, 2014
• Dallas Business Journal, Women in Business Award Honoree, 2012
• Selected by attorney peers as a Texas Rising Star®, Texas Monthly, 2006, 2007, 2011 – 2014
• Member of the Year, North Texas District Export Council, 2013
• CREW Dallas Outstanding New Member Award Recipient, 2011
• Law clerk, Hon. Hayden Head, Jr., U.S. District Court, Southern District of Texas, Corpus Christi, 2001-02
• Law clerk extern, Texas Court of Appeals, Third Judicial District, Austin, 2001
• National American Inns of Court Outstanding Program Award, “Separation of Church & State,” 2005
• National Champion, Pace National Environmental Moot Court Competition, 2000
• National Semifinalist and Best Appellee Brief, Pace National Environmental Moot Court Competition (brief published in 2001 Winter Pace Environmental Law Review), 2001
• National Quarterfinalist, Duberstein National Bankruptcy Moot Court Competition, 2001