Karen Rabenau is a versatile and dedicated litigator, representing clients in many areas of civil litigation and communications law. Prior to joining SMVT as counsel, she was a partner with Twiggs Strickland & Rabenau in Raleigh and Research Triangle Park, where she practiced for twenty-six years. Ms. Rabenau’s litigation experience encompasses a wide range of cases on behalf small business owners, individuals and estates. She also assists in representing media outlets, small business owners and journalists in communications and public records matters.

Ms. Rabenau is an AV Preeminent rated attorney in Martindale-Hubbell and has been recognized in Best Lawyers in America since 2003. She has also been named a North Carolina Super Lawyer each year since 2005.

While at UNC Law School, Ms. Rabenau was one of two students in her second-year class to be chosen as a member of the Holderness Moot Court National Team. During her undergraduate studies at Hollins College, Ms. Rabenau was a Hollins Scholar and elected to Phi Beta Kappa.

Ms. Rabenau’s professional service in the legal community has included serving on the board of governors for the North Carolina Bar Association. She has also chaired the North Carolina Bar Association Litigation Section, convening meetings at our state’s law schools to connect current and future litigators. As chair of the Noth Carolina Bar Association Medico–Legal Liaison Committee, Ms. Rabenau produced an educational video for North Carolina physicians to practically illustrate the North Carolina Medical Legal Guidelines and promote understanding about day-to-day situations in which the worlds of physicians and attorneys often intersect and sometimes collide.

Ms. Rabenau’s community service includes seven years as a trustee at Durham Academy, an independent K-12 college preparatory day school, including a two-year commitment as chair of the Board. Locally, Ms. Rabenau serves on the Friends Board at Duke University’s Nasher Museum of Art, and as the Friends board president for two years. She has also served on the board of Caring House, a non-profit devoted to housing for cancer patients at Duke Cancer Center. Currently, Ms. Rabenau is a director and chair for the Hill Learning Center Board, an independent school devoted to transforming students with learning differences into confident, independent learners. She also serves as a trustee at Hollins University, a private women’s college in Virginia, chairing the Board’s Governance Committee.

Karen and her husband David and their children are curious travelers, enthusiastic cooks, and avid runners. They may be spotted most weekends on Duke’s Al Buehler trail with their family and dog in tow.