Karen L. Goldstein became a trial lawyer to fight for the underdog and to protect
constitutional rights. She has been practicing criminal defense exclusively since 2003 and
founded her own law firm in 2007. With over 22 years of criminal trial experience, she adamantly believes that clients from all
socioeconomic backgrounds deserve a vigorous defense.
Ms. Goldstein focuses her defense practice on trying complex federal and state jury trials,
including, RICO/VICAR, drug trafficking, murder, child molestation, rape, fraud, and other
white collar crimes. Over the past several years, she has also expanded her practice to
include federal death penalty work. She is well-known within the defense community for
tackling difficult, high-stakes cases and is undeterred by the clear challenges her clients
face in a modern #metoo era. Ms. Goldstein is a member of both the State Indigent
Criminal Defense Appointment (ICDA) Panel and the Federal Criminal Justice Act (CJA)
Panel in Los Angeles where she represents indigent clients who cannot afford to hire a
private attorney.
She graduated magna cum laude from Georgetown University with a Bachelor of Arts in
1999 and cum laude from Georgetown University Law Center, in 2003, with a Juris
Doctorate.
Ms. Goldstein was named as Trial Attorney of the Year in 2020 by the Criminal Courts Bar
Association (CCBA) in Los Angeles with its Jerry Giesler Memorial Award. She has been
consistently named as a Southern California Super Lawyer from 2012-2022 and recognized
as a Top 100 Trial Lawyer. Ms. Goldstein is a member of the California, New York, and
Washington, D.C. State Bars and admitted to the Central, Northern, Southern, and Eastern
District Courts in California.
She handles all serious state and federal felony matters including:
- violent crimes
- fraud crimes
- white collar crimes
- sex crimes
- child pornography crimes
- drug crimes
- gang crimes/RICO crimes
