Karen P. Wackerman

Karen P. Wackerman’s skill at building consensus while protecting her clients’ interests has been a distinctive asset in her career as a corporate attorney. She has negotiated numerous acquisitions, financing arrangements and contracts, and in the process has watched many clients grow from start-ups or small companies to successful enterprises.

Karen assists her clients with an array of business concerns, including formation, shareholder and operating agreements, financings, mergers and acquisitions, and business contracts of all kinds. She is frequently called upon to provide outside general counsel services to her clients, including advice regarding corporate governance, corporate secretarial matters, employment issues and dispute resolutions. She routinely works with clients in their dealings with federal and state boards and agencies, including assisting them to obtain licenses and approvals from state and federal boards and commissions. Karen regularly counsels both employers and executives in the negotiation and drafting of employment agreements, severance agreements, consulting agreements, non-compete and restrictive covenant agreements and other employment-related contracts. 

Karen represents clients in a wide variety of industries. A significant number of her clients are in the health care industry, where Karen’s practice includes working with physicians and physician groups, hospitals and other health care entities on regulatory issues, including Stark law, anti-fraud compliance and HIPAA, certificate of need applications and state licensing issues, and transactions that include equity and asset purchases, mergers, buyouts, affiliations among health care entities, and employment and severance agreement involving health care parties.

Office

Professional Affiliations

American Bar Association - Business Law Section

University of Connecticut School of Law - associate clinical professor of law (1995-1998, 2000-2001)

Community Involvement

Fairfield Representative Town Meeting - elected representative, 2015-present; moderator, 2019-2021, majority leader, 2017-2019

Visiting Nurse & Hospice of Fairfield County - Board of Directors, 2002-2015 and 2017-2020; former chairman of the board

Fund for Women & Girls, Fairfield County's Community Foundation - Steering Committee member 2020-present and vice chair 2024-present

"Big Sister" in the Big Brothers/Big Sisters program in Bridgeport, Connecticut, 2019-2021

Mentor, Bridgeport Public Schools, 2013-2019

Honors & Recognitions

Named a Moffly Media Top Lawyer in Fairfield County, 2021, 2023 and 2024 - Business Law

• In nearly a dozen transactions, represented buyers or sellers of elevator repair and maintenance companies or elevator parts companies to private equity-backed purchasers
• Represented a nonprofit home health agency in a transaction in which two other home health agencies merged into the client.
• Represented three employees in the purchase of the assets of their employer.
• Successfully closed three acquisitions of medical practices that were purchasing other groups. The transactions included a merger, a stock purchase and an asset purchase, each of which involved significant health regulatory analysis to successfully structure the transaction, as well as the negotiation and documentation of the transaction, one of which also included a bank financing.
• Represented two founders of an ambulatory surgery center from the initial purchase of an existing center, applying for a certificate of need determination, obtaining investors, relocating and developing a new facility, licensing and opening.
• Represented two medical practices in the negotiation of their credit facilities.
• Represented a client in its sale of the stock of a day care center and the assets of two nursery schools.
• Represented a different client in the purchases of the equity or assets of three day care centers, including the real estate of one. 
• Represented the majority owners of a private corporation in the redemption of their stock by the corporation, including the negotiation of the terms of the redemption agreement, securities agreements, notes and other documentation.
• Successfully closed the merger of a nonprofit addiction treatment facility into a mental health agency.
• Created or transitioned several medical practices into “concierge” practices of various types.
• Revisions to organizational documents of several nonprofit entities to restructure their corporate governance.
• Provided corporate and healthcare regulatory legal services to a regional hospital.

Publications

Press Releases

Blog Posts