Karen Abrams is a Partner with Paris Ackerman and is the head of the firm’s Commercial Real Estate Leasing practice. Karen has been with the firm since July 2013. Karen devotes her time to handling a broad array of commercial matters including commercial leasing, real estate transactions and financing.
Karen has extensive experience in counseling both individuals as well as local, regional, and national commercial landlords and tenants in connection with the preparation, review and negotiation of commercial real estate leases for retail, office, and industrial locations. Karen’s leasing experience extends to prime leases, subleases and ground leases for locations in shopping centers, strip-malls, food courts, and stand-alone locations. Karen also advises clients in the acquisition and disposition of commercial property.
In addition to handling commercial leasing transactions, Karen represents commercial lenders and borrowers in a variety of complex financing transactions, with particular emphasis on commercial banking, asset and cash-flow based lending, and real-estate secured transactions. She has significant experience handling secured and unsecured financings at all levels for acquisitions, project and working capital purposes.
Karen also represents businesses and business owners in a wide variety of corporate transactional matters, including acquisitions and divestitures, corporate formation and governance matters, equity and debt financings, and contractual and business counseling.
Like many of her clients, Karen was also a successful entrepreneur in her own right, having owned franchises in multiple systems. In fact, Karen represents clients in numerous national franchise systems, including Dunkin’ Donuts, Baskin-Robbins, Club Pilates, Goldfish Swim School, Great Clips, Gold’s Gym, Jersey Mike’s, Wendy’s, Taco Bell, Saladworks, Spice Kitchen, Subway, Tide Dry Cleaners, Lightbridge Academy, European Wax Center, Amazing Lash Studio and Elements Massage. Karen’s personal experience as a franchise operator affords her a keen insight into the legal issues faced by franchisees, who comprise a large part of her client base.
2017 marks the seventh consecutive year Karen has been selected as a New Jersey Super Lawyer. She frequently speaks and presents on, and writes about, matters relating to commercial real estate for organizations such as the New Jersey Institute for Continuing Legal Education and the International Council of Shopping Centers.
Prior to joining Paris Ackerman, Karen was the managing principal of Abrams & Abrams, LLC. Before founding Abrams & Abrams, Karen practiced law in the commercial real estate departments of a number of large law firms including Edwards & Angell, Brach Eichler, and Kelley Drye & Warren.
Karen earned her law degree, with honors, at the George Washington University Law School where she simultaneously earned her M.B.A., with honors, in Finance and Investment. Karen received her undergraduate degree, with honors, from Washington University in St. Louis.
Karen is currently admitted to practice law in New York and New Jersey as well as the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey.