Karen Fulton
Partner | Cape Town
Contact
T: +27 11 669 9513
Overview
Karen Fulton is a partner in our Cape Town office Employment & Benefits Practice. She specialises in all aspects of South African employment law including exiting executive employees, corporate restructurings, mergers and acquisitions, bonus disputes, restraints of trade, unfair dismissal and unfair labour practice claims, unfair discrimination, sexual harassment, boardroom disputes, cross-border contracts and disputes. Karen has a special interest in gender equality and conducting investigations.
Karen has served two periods as an acting judge of the Labour Court and has sat on private tribunals in employment disputes. Karen was the first woman to sit on Bowmans’ exco.
Experience
Karen has been a partner for almost 30 years and her regular clients include Nestle, EY, Oracle, Marsh, AngloGold Ashanti, Thermo Fisher Scientific, and Abbott Laboratories. Karen has significant experience in servicing multi-national clients.
- Many of the matters handled by Karen require confidential “under the radar” outcomes. She conducted an investigation for a client into allegations of “sex for jobs” and advised the client on how to tackle the matter and the outcomes of the investigation.
- Karen assisted a client in identifying an employee who was making bomb threats. This involved an investigation to identify who was making the calls, court applications to obtain telephone records, the dismissal of the employee concerned and assisting the client in reporting the matter to the police.
- Karen frequently manages cross border disputes. She recently advised an African bank on changes to the management team and board of directors in a matter where the board and the main shareholder were at loggerheads.
- Karen advised a subsidiary of a global insurance company on the dismissal of their South African CEO and in doing so, managed a multi-disciplinary team of both corporate, regulatory and employment lawyers.
Awards
- Chambers Global consistently recognised Karen for her work in Employment in South Africa for the past 13 years, most recently Karen was ranked in Band 2 (2025, 2026) , and prior, in Band 3 for the same category for ten consecutive years (2015 to 2024).
- Legal 500 ranked Karen as a Leading Partner for her work in Employment (2025, 2026).
- Who’s Who Legal ranked Karen in the following categories Thought Leaders: Labour & Employment; Employment & Benefits: Pensions & Benefits; and Employment & Benefits: Labour & Employment (2018).
‘She is a well-established employment lawyer and stands out for her turnaround times and knowledge.’ – Chambers Global, 2026
‘She is always willing to jump on a call to provide support.’ – Chambers Global, 2026
‘Karen Fulton is an excellent lawyer.’ – Chambers Global, 2026
‘Karen Fulton is so pleasant and enjoyable to work with and has always presented several different options to consider when approaching complex matters. I have always appreciated her transparency and willingness to go the extra mile for us. She is truly an absolute gem.’ – Legal 500, 2025
AREA OF EXPERTISE
Qualifications
- BA and LLB degrees from Stellenbosch University.
- Accredited Tokiso meditator and arbitrator.
INSIGHTS
Overview
Karen Fulton is a partner in our Cape Town office Employment & Benefits Practice. She specialises in all aspects of South African employment law including exiting executive employees, corporate restructurings, mergers and acquisitions, bonus disputes, restraints of trade, unfair dismissal and unfair labour practice claims, unfair discrimination, sexual harassment, boardroom disputes, cross-border contracts and disputes. Karen has a special interest in gender equality and conducting investigations.
Karen has served two periods as an acting judge of the Labour Court and has sat on private tribunals in employment disputes. Karen was the first woman to sit on Bowmans’ exco.
Experience
Karen has been a partner for almost 30 years and her regular clients include Nestle, EY, Oracle, Marsh, AngloGold Ashanti, Thermo Fisher Scientific, and Abbott Laboratories. Karen has significant experience in servicing multi-national clients.
- Many of the matters handled by Karen require confidential “under the radar” outcomes. She conducted an investigation for a client into allegations of “sex for jobs” and advised the client on how to tackle the matter and the outcomes of the investigation.
- Karen assisted a client in identifying an employee who was making bomb threats. This involved an investigation to identify who was making the calls, court applications to obtain telephone records, the dismissal of the employee concerned and assisting the client in reporting the matter to the police.
- Karen frequently manages cross border disputes. She recently advised an African bank on changes to the management team and board of directors in a matter where the board and the main shareholder were at loggerheads.
- Karen advised a subsidiary of a global insurance company on the dismissal of their South African CEO and in doing so, managed a multi-disciplinary team of both corporate, regulatory and employment lawyers.
Awards
- Chambers Global consistently recognised Karen for her work in Employment in South Africa for the past 13 years, most recently Karen was ranked in Band 2 (2025, 2026) , and prior, in Band 3 for the same category for ten consecutive years (2015 to 2024).
- Legal 500 ranked Karen as a Leading Partner for her work in Employment (2025, 2026).
- Who’s Who Legal ranked Karen in the following categories Thought Leaders: Labour & Employment; Employment & Benefits: Pensions & Benefits; and Employment & Benefits: Labour & Employment (2018).
‘She is a well-established employment lawyer and stands out for her turnaround times and knowledge.’ – Chambers Global, 2026
‘She is always willing to jump on a call to provide support.’ – Chambers Global, 2026
‘Karen Fulton is an excellent lawyer.’ – Chambers Global, 2026
‘Karen Fulton is so pleasant and enjoyable to work with and has always presented several different options to consider when approaching complex matters. I have always appreciated her transparency and willingness to go the extra mile for us. She is truly an absolute gem.’ – Legal 500, 2025
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