Karen obtained her Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of the Philippines and was admitted to the Philippine bar in 2001. She has extensive experience in corporate commercial and tax law, having worked as an associate at top law firm Castillo Laman Tan Pantaleon & San Jose, and as a tax lawyer at SGV & Co. (E&Y in Manila).
Karen’s experience in tax law is wide-ranging, from tax planning and advisory to tax controversy and advocacy. Her competence in this sphere is strengthened by international experience in the tax and legal departments of Big 4 accounting firms abroad. She was a senior tax manager at Deloitte Kazakhstan, providing investment counseling, corporate tax advice and international structuring assistance to domestic and multinational clients in various industries. She was also a tax executive at Ernst & Young Cambodia, advising mostly inbound investors.
Karen has assisted clients with, data privacy compliance, including data protection officer and data processing system registrations; establishing privacy management programs; drafting privacy policies, procedures and notices; drafting and updating vendor and data transfer agreements; and establishing and implementing breach management procedures. Karen has the Certified Information Privacy Manager (CIPM) credential, as certified by the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP).
In respect of corporate and commercial matters, she has handled mergers and acquisitions and corporate reorganizations for domestic and multinational clients. Karen has also been named by Asia Business Law Journal as one of the Top 100 Lawyers of the Philippines of 2025 and recognized as Commended External Counsel by In-House Community for 2025.
Contact us for expert legal and tax assistance in South and Southeast Asia.
