Karen L. Hale, a native of Roanoke County and daughter of Gloria Hale, was recently honored in Las Vegas, NV, by Black Enterprise in Las Vegas, NV (March 1) as one of 50 Women who were honored as “Most Powerful Women in Corporate America.” An article and picture of these women were featured in the February/March 2019 edition of Black Enterprise Magazine.
Karen is also granddaughter of the late James Robert Hale and Carrie Murchison Hale, both of Roanoke County, VA. She currently resides in Chicago, IL where she has lived for the past 20-plus years.
Karen is a graduate of North Cross School. In 1990 she received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from Duke followed by three years at the Marshall-Wythe School of Law at the College of William and Mary where she received her Doctorate degree. She later took Virginia and Chicago Bar Exams passing both the first time. Her licenses are active in both states of Virginia and Illinois.
After law school, Karen moved to Detroit, MI as clerk for the Honorable Damon J. Keith of the US Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. Upon completion of her clerkship, she moved to Chicago, IL where she practiced Labor & Employment law for the law firm of Sidley and Austin for three years handling various types of litigation including Arbitrations, Mediations and trials in Federal and State Courts.
In 1997, she began a 20-plus year career at Abbott Laboratories and then Abbott’s spin-off company, AbbVie. Inc., as in-house counsel managing and supervising a broad range of complex civil and criminal litigation worldwide.
Karen has since counseled, litigation and received numerous promotions including Divisional Vice President, Commercial Litigation (2006-2012), upon the separation of AbbVie from Abbott, Vice President, Litigation and Legal Specialty Operations (2013), and her current role of Vice President as Chief Ethics & Compliance Officer of AbbVie.
