Tenacious Lawyers Unafraid To Fight For You
placeholder

Karis Stephen

Biography

Ms. Stephen joined Allred, Maroko & Goldberg as an Associate in 2024. Prior to joining AMG, Ms. Stephen was an Associate at Latham & Watkins, working primarily within the firm’s Labor & Employment practice group.

Ms. Stephen earned her law degree from the University of Pennsylvania Law School with honors in legal writing. While in law school, Ms. Stephen held a law clerk position in the Hearings Unit of Baltimore’s Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, completed an externship with Philadelphia Lawyers for Social Equity, and interned with a plaintiff-side employment law firm in Philadelphia.

During law school, Ms. Stephen was the Community Editor for The Regulatory Review and an Associate Editor for the University Pennsylvania Journal of Law and Social Change. Additionally, Ms. Stephen was also a board member of the Black Law Student Association and the Education and Advocacy Coordinator of If/When/How, a student pro bono organization focused on advancing reproductive rights and justice.

Prior to attending law school, Ms. Stephen was the recipient of a Fulbright Award for which she spent a year as an English Teaching Assistant at a high school in Malaysia.

As an undergraduate at the University of Pennsylvania, Ms. Stephen won an English departmental prize for her thesis titled Black Travel through Time and Space: Music Videos from Sun Ra to Erykah Badu, in which she explored Afrofuturism in the music space. As a member of the Performing Arts Council Executive Board, she headed up the After School Arts Program, a university-funded arts program for youth in West Philadelphia public schools. Ms. Stephen graduated summa cum laude and was selected to be a member of Phi Beta Kappa.

Outside of work, Ms. Stephen is a musician, creative writer, and avid moviegoer.

Education

  • University of Pennsylvania Law School, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
    • Juris Doctor
  • University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
    • Bachelor of Arts
    • Honors: summa cum laude
    • Honors: Benjamin Franklin Scholars Program
    • Honors: Departmental Honors
    • Honors: Phi Beta Kappa
    • Major: English and Cinema & Media Studies
    • Minor: Music

Bar Admissions

  • California, 2023

Professional Associations

  • Los Angeles Music and Art School, Young Professionals Advisory Board Member, 2024 to Present

Published Works

  • Why I Chose to Wear Braids to the Workplace Every Day Despite the Fear of Criticism, POPSUGAR, January 8, 2022
  • New California Law Forces Fast Food Restaurants to Think Fast, The Regulatory Review, October 25, 2022
  • Aborting the Right to Abortion, The Regulatory Review, May 9, 2022
  • Using Disability Justice to Reimagine Family Regulation Systems, The Regulatory Review, March 8, 2022
  • The Social Responsibility of Social Media Platforms, The Regulatory Review, December 21, 2021

Speaking Engagements

  • Speaker, The Black Hair Big Law Symposium at George Mason University Law School, October 2022

Past Employment Positions

  • Latham & Watkins, Associate, Labor and Employment