Karen spent 25 years working in the clothing industry before deciding to follow her dream of becoming a specialist family law attorney at the age of 40 in 2008. Karen completed her LLB through UNISA in 2011, graduating in May 2012 with 16 distinctions, and having completed articles during this period. In September 2012, Karen was admitted as an attorney of the High Court and joined a specialist family law firm as a Professional Assistant. In 2016 Karen completed her Masters of Law specialising in family law – “Ascertaining the voice of the child in South African divorce law”. Karen completed a Bachelor of Arts (psychology – cum laude) in 2019. Karen is a CEDR UK accredited commercial mediator, a certified family mediator and an accredited parenting coordinator.

Karen is passionate about finding solutions to disputes through alternate dispute resolution wherever possible. Where this is not possible, Karen is an experienced litigation attorney. Karen is acutely aware of the impact that litigation has on the parties involved, particularly in circumstances where the parties will have an ongoing relationship post-litigation. She is dedicated to offering holistic solutions to often complex matters and empowering her clients to resolve their disputes with dignity and hope.

In January 2018, Karen established her own firm practising as Karen Botha Attorney. In 2019 Karen was awarded the Woza Women in Law award for the “Best Family Lawyer” and was first runner-up in the category “Law Firms (0 – 5 years – women only)”. Additionally, in 2020 Karen was awarded the Woza Women in Law awards in the categories “Covid-19 Gender-Based Violence Champion” and “Covid-19 Legal Philanthropist”.

Karen conducts workshops for single parents, support groups for women and is an activist on gender-based violence issues. Karen founded the Family Law Forum of KwaZulu-Natal and held the position of Chair of the Forum until her relocation to the Western Cape in November 2021.

In November 2021, Karen relocated to the Western Cape and opened an alternate dispute resolution centre where she focuses on mediation, parenting coordination and divorce coaching. All legal disputes are stressful to the parties. Karen’s aim is to assist the parties to any dispute to find amicable, workable, consensual and long term solutions through non-litigious methods.

Having many years of experience as a litigation attorney, Karen understands the costs associated with taking disputes to court. Financial costs are the most obvious of these, with legal costs sometimes running into millions. But what many people do not appreciate, until they find themselves locked into a court “battle”, is the toll that litigation takes on all other areas of their lives, including the emotional and psychological trauma, regardless of the type of dispute they find themselves in.

Another factor often overlooked is the time it takes to reach finality through the courts. Our courts are understaffed and back-logged resulting in matters often taking years to finally get to trial. It is also common practice for litigants or their legal representatives to delay proceedings by abusing the court processes deliberately. These delays are financially and emotionally draining, with many litigants seeking justice eventually “giving up” due to running out of funds or the emotional strength to continue.