Karl A. Racine
Managing Partner, Venable LLP
Karl Racine has been the Managing Partner of Venable LLP since 2006. According to numerous public sources, Mr. Racine is the only African American Managing Partner of an AmLaw Global 100 and AmLaw 100 law firm. Venable is one of DC's largest law firms and has offices in Virginia, Baltimore, Towson, Rockville, New York City, and Los Angeles. The duties and responsibilities of the Managing Partner of a major law firm are equivalent to those of a CEO of a major corporation. Mr. Racine is committed to increasing the level of diversity in the legal industry, provide exceptional counsel and service to clients, serve the public, and be an advocate to those who do not have adequate resources to fulfill life's basic needs.
Since 2007, the Washington Business Journal has recognized Venable LLP as the Greater Washington, DC area's most philanthropic law firm. The Venable Foundation contributes approximately $2M annually in cash contributions to local grass roots organizations that focus on education, basic essentials, persons with disabilities, and enhancing urban areas with significant needs through various community organizations.
Mr. Racine was recently recognized by the National Law Journal as being one of "The 50 Most Influential Minority Leaders in America". In addition to his leadership of the Venable firm, Mr. Racine is a highly skilled litigator with more than 20 years of experience in public and private practice. He has broad experience in the areas of criminal and civil litigation, appellate advocacy and representation in connection with federal government regulation, enforcement, and investigations. Mr. Racine led the Venable team in its representation of a Fortune 100 company through five years of litigation in one of the largest certified employment discrimination class actions in the wake of the 1991 amendments to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
From 1997 to 2000, Mr. Racine served as an Associate White House Counsel under President Clinton. In this capacity, he advised and represented the President and White House staff on numerous civil and criminal investigation matters, including Congressional, Justice Department, and Office of Independent Counsel inquiries. Mr. Racine also served with a team of lawyers responsible for selecting local judges in the District of Columbia, federal judges and other Presidential appointments. He also advised White House staff on inquiries into government ethics.
From 1994 to 1997, Mr. Racine practiced with Cacheris & Treanor, a Washington, DC white collar criminal and complex civil litigation boutique. Mr. Racine was a lead lawyer in a number of substantial white collar and civil cases. He also handled defense work on behalf of senior corporate and government officials.
Mr. Racine was born in Haiti and moved to DC as a young child. He attended DC Public Schools and the University of Pennsylvania, where he graduated with a B.S. in Economics. Mr. Racine was the captain of the Penn Varsity Basketball team his junior and senior years and was voted Team MVP and voted to the All Ivy Team for two years. Upon graduation, he attended the University of Virginia School of Law where he earned his J.D. At the University of Virginia, Mr. Racine represented migrant farm workers through the law school's pro bono clinic. While in law school, Mr. Racine, alongside his mother, produced the first Haitian/Creole/English legal dictionary — a book that found wide use for waves of Haitians caught in the U.S. legal system. Mr. Racine began his career with Venable in 1989 as a litigation associate and remained with the firm until 1992, when he moved to become a staff attorney with the D.C. Public Defender Service, widely regarded as the premier public defender office in the country. At the Public Defender Service, Mr. Racine testified on several occasions before the D.C. City Council on legislation affecting criminal law and juvenile justice.
Mr. Racine is an active and participating member of several boards, including the Everybody Wins! organization, which focuses on literacy and leadership training in the DC public schools. He is a member of the DC Judicial Nomination's Commission (JNC). The JNC's responsibility is to recommend candidates for Judicial appointment to the D.C. Courts, to the President of the United States. He was Co-chair of the D.C. Mayor's Transition Team for Public Safety and Legal Affairs. He is a Member, Board of Overseers University of Pennsylvania School of Social Policy and Practice (SP2)-Endowed Marie M.B Marie and Etzer J. Racine Scholarship to financially support underrepresented students. Mr. Racine is also a Fellow of the American Bar Association (in recognition of outstanding dedication to the welfare of the community and traditions of the ABA's social policies). He has also received the Haitian Law Association Award for Excellence (2008); Maya Way Award for Social Justice - See Forever Foundation Maya Angelou Public Charter School (2011); Washington Business Journal Minority Business Leaders Award (2011); and is soon to be a recipient of the Humanitarian Award at the Global Syndicates' Haiti Project which is an organization doing work in the areas of education, health care, and economic development for the people of Haiti. Mr. Racine also actively participates in a number of organizations that focus on increasing the standard of living in Haiti, including HELP (Haitian Education Leadership Program) which provides academic scholarships to children who would otherwise not be able to further their education. Mr. Racine's newest Board membership is with the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity (LCLD). The LCLD is an organization of corporate chief legal officers and law firm managing partners dedicated to creating a truly diverse legal profession.