Karen Perret is an attorney whose practice is devoted to business and commercial transactions, wills, trusts and estate planning, concentrating on international matters. For the past 25 years, she has practiced in Washington State and in Paris, France.

She works with French companies selling their products and expanding their businesses in the United States. She advises U.S. and French businesses on the legal aspects of entering trans-Atlantic markets for the first time, or expanding existing contacts and businesses, in planning organizational structures and business strategies, and in all aspects of implementing those strategies, including establishing distribution networks and negotiating distribution and other contractual agreements. Succession planning for owners of closely held businesses is often an important aspect of this practice.

In the area of estate planning, she often works with estates where assets are located in more than one country, assisting individuals and business owners located in France with inheritances and family matters in the United States, and vice versa.

Karen Perret is a native of Hawaii. She earned her bachelor’s degree with distinction, and her law degree, from the University of Washington. She attended the Interpreters’ School of the University of Geneva, Switzerland, where she concentrated on legal and economic translation, working in English, French and Spanish.

She is admitted to practice in Washington State and in France, and to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and the United States Court of International Trade. She is a member of the Union Internationale des Avocats, the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, and the Seattle Estate Planning Council. A long-time member of the Pacific Northwest Chapter of the French-American Chamber of Commerce, she is on the Board of Directors and presently serves as Vice-President for Trade Services. She is also a past member of the advisory board of the World Trade Club of Seattle.