Karen Birch
PSL Counsel
London
Karen Birch
PSL Counsel
London
Contact Details
Litigation & Dispute Resolution
Karen is Counsel in Allen & Overy's London litigation practice. She has particular expertise in advising on cross-border governing law and jurisdiction issues and dispute resolution clauses in the context of complex international transactions. She advises clients globally across a wide range of sectors on the legal issues that arise in this area and on their practical implications for clients doing business internationally.
Karen also advises widely on other litigation and arbitration related issues, in particular on state immunity, English litigation procedure and legal privilege and on how clients can best manage their litigation risk. Karen is part of Allen & Overy's core Brexit team and has been heavily involved in advising clients on the legal implications of Brexit. Prior to that Karen was involved in advising clients on the risks arising from the eurozone crisis as part of a small team of Allen & Overy experts in this area.
Karen also provides both client facing and internal seminars and training on a range of key legal issues, recent developments and trends. Karen writes regularly for client publications and contributes to UK and EU consultations on law reform and to industry body discussions on recent developments in her areas of expertise. Karen has recently been invited to edit the Conflict of Laws Chapter of Butterworths' Encyclopaedia of Banking Law.
Qualifications
Professional
Admitted as solicitor, England and Wales, 1999
Academic
BA, History, St John's College, Cambridge University, 1995
CPE, The College Of Law, London, 1996
LPC, The College Of Law, London, 1997
MA, History, University of Cambridge, 1999
News & insights
Publications: 12 JANUARY 2021
Brexit certainty at last? An overview of the new EU-UK trading relationship
Following months of protracted negotiations and coming four and a half years after the UK voted to leave the EU, 24 December 2020 saw the EU and UK finally agree the shape of their future…
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Publications: 10 DECEMBER 2020
Love them or hate them: Virtual hearings are here to stay
Commercial dispute resolution has undergone a forced revolution during 2020, with courts and arbitral tribunals in many major jurisdictions responding to social restrictions put in place to control…
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Publications: 26 OCTOBER 2020
What can in-house legal, risk and compliance leaders learn from the Covid-19 pandemic and other notable crises of the past 20 years to strengthen the legal resilience of their organisations?
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Publications: 01 JUNE 2020
Covid-19 coronavirus: multi-jurisdictional survey on force majeure and equivalent doctrines
This high-level comparative survey of the legal position relating to force majeure and other similar doctrines analyses the laws across a number of key jurisdictions around the world.
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Qualifications
Professional
Admitted as solicitor, England and Wales, 1999
Academic
BA, History, St John's College, Cambridge University, 1995
CPE, The College Of Law, London, 1996
LPC, The College Of Law, London, 1997
MA, History, University of Cambridge, 1999
