Karen Olivia V. Jimeno
Junior Partner
Karen is a lawyer with 20 years of combined experience in private law practice, government, academe, media, and international development. She has degrees in AB Humanities & Management from the University of Asia & the Pacific, where she ranked first in her class; Bachelor of Laws from the University of the Philippines, where she graduated cum laude with a Dean’s Medal for Academic Excellence; Master of Laws from Harvard Law School; and a Master of Development Practice specializing in Engineering & Business for Sustainability from UC Berkeley, where she was a Fulbright scholar. She is licensed to practice law in the Philippines and in New York, USA.
Karen was appointed as the Legal Counsel for the Senate Ethics Committee of the 17th Congress and also served in the Defense Team during the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona. She also previously worked as a Policy & Regulatory Specialist for the World Bank in Washington D.C. She has been a professor of law for over 10 years, having taught in the University of the Philippines College of Law and currently teaching at the Master of Laws program of San Beda Graduate School of Law. She is also a lecturer for the Philippine Legal Education Board, Asian Center for Legal Excellence’s Mandatory Continuing Legal Education, the Strategic Intelligence Training School of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, and the Summer School of the World Intellectual Property Organization-Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines.
AREAS OF PRACTICE
Litigation
Banking & Finance Law
Mergers & Acquisitions
Private Equity & Cross-border Transactions
Corporate Law
EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND
Bachelor of Laws (LLB)
University of the Philippines College of Law, 2005
AB Humanities & Management
University of Asia & the Pacific, 2001
Master of Laws (LLM)
Harvard Law School, 2011
Master of Science in Development specializing in Engineering & Business for Sustainability
UC Berkeley, 2020
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Previous law firms or organizations: SyCip Salazar Hernandez & Gatmaitan, Quisumbing Torres (Baker McKenzie Manila)
Undersecretary for Legal Affairs & Priority Projects, Department of Public Works & Highways; Undersecretary, Presidential Management Staff-Office of the President; Head for External Affairs & Legal Counsel, Office of the Presidential Assistant for Rehabilitation & Recovery.
Defense Counsel, Impeachment Trial of Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona
PUBLICATIONS & SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS
Philippine Daily Inquirer, When infrastructure is a gift that keeps on taking
2025
The Manila Times, The True Price of Plastic
2024
The Manila Times, Reducing the Inequality Gap through Digitalization
2023
Start-up City Magazine, The Regulatory and Market Environment for Start-ups in the Philippines
2021
Centro Escolar University Law Journal, Designing a Data Privacy Regulatory Structure for Smart Grid Edge Services
2018
CNN Philippines Online Also published in the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines, Minimum wage for employees: What’s your work worth?
2015
The Philippine Star Newspaper, How to be Uber legal: A guide on regulations for Internet ride-sharing services
2015
Philippine Daily Inquirer Newspaper, Are Trending Victims Less Protected? An Assessment of Online Libel Law
2014
CDM Domestic Legal Issues Guidebook (UNEP Risoe Centre), Philippine Law Requirements for CDM Projects
2009
Asia Pacific Legal Development Bulletin, Insurance Sector Shake-up Looms
2007
CCH Doing Business in Asia, Settlement of Disputes in the Philippines
2007
Philippine Law Journal Also cited in the book “Labor Code with Comments & Cases” by C. Azucena, Labor Laws as Secundum Rationem and as Secundum Caritatem: Applying Social Justice without Causing an Injustice
2007
PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS & AFFILIATIONS
Philippine Bar Association, Harvard Women Lawyers Association, American Bar Association, Philippine Constitution Association (PHILCONSA)
AWARDS & RECOGNITIONS
Icon of Leadership Award (Icon Awards 2026)
2026
Asia’s Influential Legal Voice in Media (Asia’s Golden Icon Awards)
2025
Asia’s Outstanding Women in Resiliency & Sustainability (32nd Der Forscher Webcast Lecture Series)
2021
Gold People’s Choice Awards for a conceptual design on “Sustainable & Resilient Housing for Informal Settler Families in the Philippines” (UC Berkeley Sustainability Colloquium)
2019
Rexona’s “Pinoy Movers” Award
2016
Women of Sense & Style Award (Sense & Style Magazine)
2014
Citizens’ Award for Inspirational People (Giordano’s “World Without Strangers” Awards)
2014
People Asia’s Women of Style & Substance (People Asia Magazine)
2012
Pi Gamma Mu International Honor Society
2005
Phi Kappa Phi International Honor Society
2005
