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Karen A. Popp teaches Government Enforcement and Global Corporate Compliance. She has also taught the Wintersession Course, Government Lawyering in a Crisis. Karen is a partner in the Washington, D.C. office of Sidley Austin LLP. Karen is a highly regarded and well-known leader in the field of white collar defense, internal investigations, crisis management, and compliance Her practice focuses on high stakes matters with legal, political, and public relations components, such as global internal investigations, defense against U.S. Department of Justice and SEC Enforcement investigations, Congressional investigations, OIG and State Attorney General actions, corporate compliance, and litigation. Karen represents clients across a host of industries around the globe. She has conducted internal investigations in more than 70 countries, defended corporations and individuals in government investigations, and advised corporate boards and management relating to a wide range of issues, including designing, and enhancing corporate compliance programs, conducting compliance and risk assessments, training corporate board members and company personnel, and leading due diligence on corporate acquisitions and joint ventures. She is the Chair of the Chief Compliance Officer's Forum in Washington, D.C.

Repeatedly recognized for her work, Chambers Global and Chambers USA recognize Karen as a leader in the fields of White Collar and FCPA, National Law Journal named her a Crisis Leadership Trailblazer, Global Investigations Review named her a "Top 30 FCPA Practitioner in the U.S.A.", Euromoney Expert Guides 2021 edition of the "Best of the Best USA" named her a "Top 30 White Collar Crime" practitioner, Benchmark Litigation named her a National "White Collar Defense Star," and Legal 500, Who’s Who, Best Lawyers in America, and Super Lawyers give her top honors. Karen was selected in 2015 as one of the Ethisphere Attorneys Who Matter for making a significant difference in the ethics and compliance fields through the private practice of law. For years, Washingtonian magazine has included Karen in its roster of "Top Lawyers in Washington" and recently named her to the Lifetime Achievement honor roll of "Top Lawyers Hall of Fame."

Before joining Sidley, Karen was Associate White House Counsel for President Clinton, a lawyer in the Office of Legal Counsel at the U.S. Department of Justice, and an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District of New York. Karen started her career at Sullivan & Cromwell as a litigation associate on Wall Street after clerking for The Honorable Sam J. Ervin III of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. She graduated from UNC School of Law in 1985 where she was Order of the Coif and an editor for the North Carolina Law Review.