Education: William Mitchell College of Law
Degree: JD
Year: 1989
Honors: summa cum laude

Karna has extensive trial experience, before both courts and juries, winning big cases for several Fortune 500 clients. She has also successfully argued before several courts of appeal. Prior to joining Nilan Johnson Lewis in April of 2006, Karna practiced with Briggs & Morgan, where she managed the firm’s intellectual property practice and served on its board of directors.

Key Practice Experience

• Complex business matters
• Trade secrets
• Employment & non compete cases
• Trademark
• Copyright litigation
• Patent litigation
• Fiduciary claims
• Environmental litigation
• Wrongful death claims
• Fraud and breach of contract
• Defense of premises liability
• Shareholder disputes
• Officer and director liability
• Appellate argument

Key Industry Experience

• Food
• Agriculture
• Manufacturing/Coating
• Real Estate
• Airlines
• Medical Device

Representative Cases/Transactions

• Hormel Foods Corporation v. Ventura Foods, LLC (trade secret, obtained preliminary injunction, case settled)
• 3M v. Scanlan and Avery Dennison (trade secret, preliminary injunction obtained, case settled)
• IBM v. Seagate (trade secret, case settled)
• Green v. Brookfield Properties (excessive force, obtained jury verdict for client)
• American Airlines v. KLM Royal Dutch Airlines (trade secret, successfully defended summary judgment before 8th Circuit Court of Appeals)
• Hormel Foods Corporation v. Brothers Trading Co., Inc. d/b/a Victory Wholesale Grocers (RICO, diversion, case settled)
• Lutheran Association of Missionaries and Pilots, Inc.-Canada v. Lutheran Association of Missionaries and Pilots, Inc.-US (trademark, obtained permanent injunction against use of marks)
• Cox v. Hormel Foods Corporation (wrongful death, case settled)
• Fermaglich v. Brookfield Retail Centers, Inc. (excessive force, case settled)
• 3M v. Ross (trade secret, obtained temporary restraining order, case settled)
• 3M v. Leach (trade secret, obtained preliminary injunction, case settled)
• Diversified Dynamics Corporation v. Wagner Spray Tech (patent, overturned lower court decision before Federal Circuit Court of Appeals)
• Afremov v. AGA (shareholder dispute, case settled)
• 3M v. Accu-Tech Plastics, et al. (trade secret, obtained jury verdict for client)
• Blocker v. Brookfield Properties (excessive force, case settled)
• Acuff Rose v. Jostens (copyright, successfully defended dismissal of case before Second Circuit Court of Appeals)
• Benjamin v. City Center Associates (personal injury, case settled)
• Digital Angel v. Allflex (patent, case dismissed, judgment on pleadings)
• Terrybear v. Raj India (patent, case settled)
• Lifecore Biomedical (Keystone) v. BTI of North America (patent, case settled, cross licenses)
• America Academy of Neurology v. Macmillan (trademark, case settled)
• Hokenson, et al. v. Altiva Corporation, et al. (Shareholder dispute, obtained dismissal on the pleading)

Professional Recognitions/Honors

• Awarded Charles and Marjorie Pihl Scholarship
• Valedictorian, William Mitchell School of Law
• Member, William Mitchell Law Review
• Selected as one of the “Top 100 Women Lawyers” by Minnesota Journal of Law and Politics
• Recognized in the area of intellectual property litigation in Corporate Counsel Edition of Super Lawyers
• Fellow, Litigation Counsel of America, Trial Lawyer Honorary Society

Selected Publications/Presentations

• “Hiring from Competitors,” Minnesota Business Magazine, January 2004
• “What Lies Beneath: Your Company’s Documents May be Exposing a Wealth of Sensitive, Hidden Data,” Minnesota Technology, Spring 2004
• “Waiver of Attorney-Client Privilege by Disclosure of Privileged Statement to Opposing Party at Settlement Conferences,” US Business Litigation, March 1997
• “Rights of Patent Owners Enhanced,” WLD Article, January 1996
• “Application of Statutes of Limitations to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Enforcement Actions, Environmental and Natural Resources,” Law News, January 1995

Professional Associations

• Intellectual Property Sections of the Minnesota and American Bar Associations
• Ramsey County Bar Association
• Association of Trial Lawyers of America
• International Trademark Association

Community Involvement

• Past Board Member, Big Brothers Big Sisters
• Chair for the Committee for Reelection of Judge Elena Ostby
• Volunteer, Advocates for Human Rights

Bar Admissions

• Minnesota State Courts
• U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota
• U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
• Federal Circuit Court of Appeals

Other Education

• M.S., University of Northern Colorado
• B.S., Mankato State University