Kara Wilson

Kara serves as pro bono counsel for Cooley and works with the pro bono team to develop and manage the firm’s pro bono practice. Kara focuses her practice on civil rights litigation and advocacy, with an emphasis on LGBTQ+ rights and criminal justice reform. She also works with Cooley's pro bono team to develop opportunities to partner with the firm’s corporate clients on pro bono projects. 

Prior to rejoining Cooley and the pro bono team, Kara served as in-house counsel at two technology companies, focusing on litigation and regulatory investigations. Before that, she was a litigation associate in Cooley's New York and Palo Alto offices, and focused on complex commercial litigation and white collar criminal defense. As a litigation associate, Kara devoted a significant portion of her practice to pro bono matters. She has extensive experience advocating on behalf of LGBTQ+ individuals in impact litigation and immigration matters, and also represented tenants subjected to unlawful racial discrimination in a lawsuit against a municipality, resulting in a favorable settlement. While working in-house, Kara continued to work on pro bono projects, including advocating on behalf of incarcerated individuals subjected to solitary confinement, as well as people impacted by police misconduct. Before joining Cooley as a litigation associate, Kara was a public interest associate at the National Center for Lesbian Rights.