Karol Corbin Walker

Karol Corbin Walker is a partner at Kaufman Dolowich and Voluck’s New Jersey office. She focuses her law practice on commercial litigation, business and transactional litigation, labor and employment, toxic tort, and product liability matters.

Her clients have included many Fortune 500 corporations, publicly and privately – held corporations, financial institutions, entertainers, and insurance companies. Ms. Walker has had numerous trials in state and federal courts and has argued many cases before the Appellate Division of the Superior Court of New Jersey, New Jersey Supreme Court, and U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third and Seventh Circuits. Additionally, she is a certified arbitrator and mediator for the U. S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.

With her dedication to the law, community, and volunteerism, Ms. Walker has conquered many barriers to equality during her career.

• In August 2020, she became the first person of color and first woman ever, to serve as Chair of New Jersey’s delegation of the American Bar Association’s Nominating Committee of its House of Delegates.

• In August 2015, Ms. Walker became the first New Jersey attorney appointed Chair of the American Bar Association’s Standing Committee of the Federal Judiciary. That 15-member panel evaluates every Federal District and Circuit prospective judicial candidate during the pre-nomination phase, and every Supreme Court Justice, post-nomination.

• In June 2015, she was elected the first African American President of the Association of the Federal Bar of New Jersey.

• In 2012, Ms. Walker became the first African American female President of the National Conference of Bar Presidents.

• In 2003, she was the first African American President elected to the New Jersey State Bar Association (NJSBA) in its then 105-year history. Ms. Walker took her oath of office before a record-breaking, standing-room-only number of attendees.

• In 1998, Ms. Walker was the first African American person appointed to Chair the NJSBA’s prestigious Judicial and Prosecutorial Appointments Committee.

• In 1995, she became the first African American woman to attain Partner status at any major New Jersey law firm.

Additionally, a former Governor previously appointed Ms. Walker to the New Jersey State Ethics Commission to help ensure that State employees adhered to ethics rules. The New Jersey Supreme Court also appointed her to several committees: Judicial Evaluation; Civil Practice; Character; and Committee of the Tax Court.

Professional Memberships

• Life Fellow, American Bar Foundation

• New Jersey State Delegate, American Bar Association, 2020 – Present; House of Delegates Member, 2002–2020; Chair, Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary, 2015–2016

• Member, American Law Institute, Elected 2018

• President, Association of the Federal Bar of the State of New Jersey, 2015–2016

• President, National Conference of Bar Presidents, 2012–2013

• Chair, Judicial Evaluation Committee, Morris County Bar Association, 2009-2011

• Chair, National Bar Association, Commercial Law Section, 2003–2007

• President, New Jersey State Bar Association: 2003–2004; Chair, Judicial and Prosecutorial Appointments Committee, 1998–1999

• Board of Directors, New Jersey Institute for Continuing Legal Education, 1997-2003

• Trustee, Essex County Bar Association, 1994 to 1997

• President, Garden State Bar Association, 1991- 1993

Awards and Recognitions

• 2021 Bergen Magazine, “Top Lawyers,” New Jersey

• Best Lawyers in America® for Commercial Litigation, Insurance Law, 2006 – Present

• Named to Law & Politics and New Jersey Monthly magazines, Super Lawyer lists, 2005 – present

• Law & Politics Magazine, “Top 50 Women Attorneys in New Jersey,” 2015, 2013

• Recipient of the National Bar Association’s Gertrude E. Rush Award, 2013

• New Jersey BIZ, “Top 25 Women of Influence, 2003

• Business News New Jersey, “Top 20 African American Business People, 1989

Publications

• Confidentiality Agreements, Trade Secrets and Working From Home, New Jersey Law Journal, authors Karol Corbin Walker, Krystle Nova and Reema Chandnani, March 11, 2022

• New Jersey Amends WARN Act to Exclude Mass Layoffs Resulting from the COVID-19 Pandemic

• Karol Corbin Walker Joins Kaufman Dolowich & Voluck As Commercial and Employment Litigation Partner in New Jersey Office

News

• New Jersey Amends WARN Act to Exclude Mass Layoffs Resulting from the COVID-19 Pandemic