Karen Haase
Attorney
Karen graduated from the University of Nebraska School of Law with highest distinction before clerking for the Honorable C. Arlen Beam on the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. She has a Masters of Arts in Political Rhetoric from Kansas State University and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Hastings College.
As a recovering teacher at the high school, community college and university levels, Karen is passionate about high-quality public education. She’s a yoga nut, dog enthusiast, avid Husker fan and an outspoken advocate for the elimination of the Oxford comma.
Karen has been practicing school law for long enough that it is no longer polite to ask her how long she has been practicing law. Karen is licensed to practice law in Nebraska, South Dakota, Iowa and Wyoming. If there is a legal problem facing a school, Karen has probably dealt with it at least once, and when push comes to shove Karen is never afraid to stand up for her schools at hearing or trial. She’s won all of those fights she deserved to win, and got screwed over on the ones she lost – just ask her! If that didn’t give her enough fodder for war stories and presentations, every day a new surprise comes as she helps schools navigate the most difficult scenarios related to student discipline, teacher improvement and remediation, and board relations with administrators and communities.
Karen has extensive experience in special education law. She has tried many special education due process cases and has defended school districts in OCR and state special education complaints. Because of her dynamic style and her penchant for staying on the front lines of the most pressing special education issues, she is in high demand as a national speaker and resource for SEAs, intermediate service units, and school districts who need professional development or corrective action training. While she loves getting into school buildings and working directly with teams of educators, Karen is also well known for her national and regional presentations, such as LRP’s National Institute or the Tri-State Regional Special Education Law Conference.
Karen has been married to her husband David Weber since 1989 (they were precocious toddlers). Despite Karen’s scariest stories, David is now a full-time public school teacher after spending years substitute teaching and coaching. They have two grown children, Anna and Eli, who both will tell you Bobby is Karen’s neediest little one. Anna is a marketing expert with her own firm offering consulting services and is the one responsible for this beautiful website design. (Anna also apparently still has editing privileges.) Eli is a graduate of the University of Denver’s International Conflict Resolution Program, and is (hopefully) working diligently to restore Karen’s (lawful) access to Cuban cigars.
Licensed In
Karen@Ksbschoollaw.com
EDUCATION
University of Nebraska College of Law, J.D., Highest Distinction
Kansas State University, M.A.
Hastings College, B.A.
Fun Facts
• Despite her accomplished legal career, Karen believes that her talents were best on display when she was working as a radio DJ and is proud to prepare the playlists that greet webinar attendees before presentations.
• Karen is the master of the “machine gun no” (“no, no, no, no, no.”)
• Karen almost single-handedly keeps Zappos in business.
• Karen is a phenomenal baker/chef and food is her love language. (Steve, Bobby, and Jordan were thin men before they met Karen. Well, Steve was. . . )
• Karen is no longer allowed to drive a golf cart with passengers. Sorry about that, Shari!