As part of our ongoing series, we spotlight one of our associate members in each issue of the magazine. In this issue, we are getting to know Karen Witt of our long-time associate member, Lewis Roca Rothgerber Christie.
Tell us a little bit about yourself and what you do at your law firm.
I am a banking lawyer and have been with my firm since the late 1980s when I was in law school. I’m co-chair of our banking industry services group and provide legal services related to securities matters, including offerings, repurchases, tender offers, securities purchase agreements and shareholder ownership issues. I also handle bank merger and acquisition transactions and help form new subsidiaries for banks to expand the type of activities they provide to customers. These matters typically have regulatory components, so I am regularly in contact with federal and state bank regulators. That’s just a little bit of what I do to assist bank directors, officers and shareholders.
How have things changed since you started practicing law?
Technology has greatly changed how I perform my day-to-day work. The beginning of my career dates back to not quite the mimeograph stage, but there were no such things as emails or cell phones, and computers were large, basic word processors. Transactions were usually closed in person or, on rare occasion, by overnight courier as wet signatures were required versus DocuSign nowadays. Technology has greatly increased the efficiency of providing legal services.
One thing that has not changed is the bankers, which is one reason I find my legal practice extremely satisfying. Bankers are just great people to work with on legal issues. I’ve worked with some bankers for decades, and others I’m meeting for the first time, but I really enjoy partnering with them to anticipate, address and resolve legal matters.
What makes your law firm unique?
Our law firm has been representing banks for more than 100 years, with some name changes during that time. We currently have about 230 attorneys in eight offices throughout the western and southwestern states, and our attorneys are licensed in most states throughout the U.S. Almost all of my clients are banks, financial institutions and bank holding companies and, together with the other attorneys in my firm’s financial institutions industry group, we have someone who can assist when a banker calls with a legal issue.
Why is being a member of ICBC important to you and your firm?
Our firm is very pleased to have been an associate member of ICBC for many years. Supporting community banks of all sizes is very important to us, and that’s what ICBC does: provide support to, and advocate for, community banks. Community banks are vital to the communities in which they operate. When you go on LinkedIn, for instance, you can see all the activities that ICBC member banks are doing in their communities and how they’re giving back. Community banks regularly put teams together to do volunteer work in their communities and provide funding to special projects.
Community banks are also a valuable resource for financial education, whether they are located in rural or urban areas. My children opened accounts at community banks when very young, progressed to credit cards during school, and now my son is in the process of getting his first car loan.
What is one fun fact that people don’t know about you?
I worked for a small community bank in Lincoln, Nebraska, all through college. I was a teller part-time during the school year and full-time during summers. This was back in the days when you had to manually crank the drive-through drawer out to the cars and back. We gave out lollipops to the children and dog bones if any furry friends were in the car. So that was my first very positive experience with community banks.
