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2021 Women to Watch Awards Americas EMEA

Karen Bashor Partner

Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker LLP

Las Vegas

The daughter of Filipino immigrants, Karen Bashor often thinks of her parents when handling complex insurance defense litigation for her clients.

Her mother, a physician, and her father, an architect, came to the United States without many resources and worked hard to rebuild their careers. Ms. Bashor said seeing them overcome those struggles allows her to empathize with the real people behind big companies in matters such as medical malpractice or transportation lawsuits.

“I always try to emphasize the human aspect — we help keep people employed,” she said. “When it comes to trying these types of cases, finding that human aspect is really very important.”

Ms. Bashor’s experience as a young lawyer and new mother motivated her to join Wilson Elser in 2016 and get involved with its Women Attorneys Valued and Empowered program, which works to advance the professional and personal well-being of women attorneys.

She was driven to the cause after her son was born nearly 10 years ago. The small firm she was with at the time didn’t offer paid maternity leave, and with law school loans to pay and a big case to manage, she had no choice but to go back to work when he was just two weeks old.

It was the most challenging time in her career, Ms. Bashor said, but she learned what she is capable of, becoming her former firm’s first female and minority partner, and she is now a fierce advocate for supporting women in the workplace.

Jennfier Togliatti, a retired judge in Las Vegas who works in private mediation and arbitration and serves as chair of the Nevada Gaming Commission, described Ms. Bashor as an “exceptional litigator.” She praised her work on “some of the most complex personal injury litigation that an attorney can have in our state.”

“When she represents a client, she puts the best possible reputation of herself on the face of that client,” she said.

Ms. Bashor said she is committed to making a difference in her community, both personally and professionally.

“I think we all need to step up and use our skills, our power and our abilities for good,” she said.